Thursday, May 30, 2013

A Moment of Relaxation

I have to laugh at myself.  For most of my adult life I have had different business ideas, which usually corresponded to my hobby at the time.  The problem is, I am lazy and starting a business is work.  You have to maintain your "day job", while you attempt to make your new job successful.  Even after you get that business going well enough to quit your job, the work with keeping it lucrative is still more than if you just worked your day job.  So for years, those grand schemes fell to the wayside and I remained fat dumb and happy.

Then I decided to pursue my writing passion.  Don't let anybody fool you, writing is a business.  As much as I love to write, it still boils down to the fact that I am doing what I avoided for years; I am starting a business.  I work all day, then come home and write (work) all night.  Don't take this wrong.  I am not complaining, just stating a fact that some people with dreams of writing are ignorant of.

So, it was time for a moment of relaxation.
For the past 23 years we have taken a family vacation.  I am not sure I can ever express the importance of these trips.  They were essential for us as a family, and for each of us individually.  I strongly believe those vacations have lengthened, and enriched, our lives.

This was the first year my kids weren't able to go on vacation with us.  I hated the thought, and I missed them, but my wife and I had a blast.

We grabbed a tent, straddled the motorcycle and had ourselves a 2800 mile adventure.  We froze our tails off at a few campsites, rode a ferry across Mobile Bay, explored an old military fort, dipped our toes in the beautiful waters of the Emerald Coast, absorbed natural beauty that you could never experience from a car, and visited Mickey Mouse.

My wife and I have never lost that connection that some empty-nester's discover they lost, but this adventure strengthened it without a doubt.  And we both relaxed.  We needed it.  For the last two years we have worked ourselves into a stupor.  Now we are recharged, and maybe not quite ready to return to the real world, but more prepared to do battle with it.

Don't rob yourself of these moments of relaxation.  Step away, enjoy your life, and you may be surprised how clear things become when that cloud of exhaustion drifts away.

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