Away From The Everyday

Ever wish you could just get away for a bit?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to get away from my life. I have a great job, great friends, my family is always looking out for me and I really have nothing to complain about. Lately the stress has a been a little higher but only because of the different roles that must be played when life continues to march forward. This past weekend I got to get away, a friend let us borrow her cabin for the weekend and so we packed our bags, had my bestie come over to spend the night with the kids and animals and the hubby drove into the woods. It was nice, it was calm, the dinner was yummy and the walks with talks were just what I needed. We even got some funny texts from the kids showing they were having a good time too. If anything this weekend showed that we need to schedule more time alone as well as with our family.

All too often we push ourselves to work harder, stay longer, prove ourselves. The world demands that we listen to what is going on, even tries to get us involved with the different stances that we are bombarded with. To say I would love to stay in my own little bubble, my own little world would be an understatement, but since I am a living breathing person, who lives in an ever changing world I must be a part of it. Some things I don’t agree with, others I do with my whole heart. The goal to have when being forced into knowing what is going on in the world is to find your place, your peace and do it daily. I go on walks with my hubby and Jorj each morning. Our new puppy Charlie does not like the cold weather or the leash so she stays home for the walks. Today even, while on our walk we found credit cards in a person’s yard. We knew we couldn’t leave them there, so we took them home found the owners (thanks Facebook) and got the cards back to them. Sadly it was through a stolen car that their cards found and promptly thrown out the window, but they were able to get some peace in knowing those cards would not be used. The world snuck into our walk, but we were able to help the couple at least slightly.

I used to think that if I didn’t watch the news, read the newspaper, look on Facebook, or any other social media that I would be safe from knowing what was happening around me. For the most part that worked, but then I would go to work, or I would talk with my neighbor, or my hubby would promptly inform me on the daily news. I thought if I didn’t know what was happening I could lower my stress levels. In part my plan worked, but then when the human interaction happened my stress levels would go up again because it seemed there was nothing good happening. So I started to look for the good around me. I noticed that when I looked for the good I was able to “get away from the everyday”. Recently I was in a communications class where the professor talked about a little test she did. Since we all still wear our masks it was hard to see when someone was smiling at her or when she smiled at someone. So she actively started to use her eyes to express herself. She started to “smile” with her eyes and deliberately over did her “eye emotions” so people would notice. What she found was that she connected more with people, even got them to “smile” back with their eyes. It started conversations, and she realized with just that small gesture she found the good in the moments.

Where do you find your good? There is a lot in the world that can cause stress and unhappiness. So what do you choose to focus on? How do you “get away from the everyday”? Are there things that trap you in the blah of life? I know that if I don’t find something every day that takes my focus off of the world, I start to feel it emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. So finding my good, finding my smile and my joy is imperative for my overall wellbeing. What we allow to rule us can be the thing that rises us up or keeps us down. So what is it you allow to be in your life? Think on it and choose to find the good. Until next time:

There is always something that can change the thoughts you are thinking. If you choose to let a bad decision/thought rule you, you put yourself in prison. Break free by finding the good in each situation, in doing so you are training yourself to find joy.