Originally posted on Facebook HERE
I love days with no responsibilities. No schedule. Just do whatever, whenever. I don’t get many of them, really. I usually work six days a week, and every day pretty much has a lot of “be here at this time, do that at that time, maybe you’ll have enough time to squeeze this in somewhere in between” going on. And with that comes a level of pressure and anxiety to make sure everything is ready to go when you have the time set to work on it… and life throws things at you, too – you think your schedule is set, and someone will just walk in with a new project that will demand your attention and throw everything out of whack. People cancel, or forget appointments, or call to reschedule last minute, or sometimes call to get squeezed into the schedule, too. And in today’s age, if you have to work on a computer at all – there’s no guarantee the system you need to use will be up and running at the time you need it, either. As much as we try to organize our days into neat little packages, life often has other ideas. It’s why we need days off. We need vacations. We need time to just not have anything planned, or even – if there are things we want to do – to do them at our own pace, on a flexible schedule that lets the day come to us instead of the other way around. I love days like that. I get very few of them , too. So, when people say we take a lot of vacations and time off – maybe I do, but I’m just trying to catch up from working most nights and Saturdays when I’m in the office. I deal a lot with people who are at or close to retirement. Very often the first time I see them after they retire, their entire vibe has changed. Because, really – every day is free to use however you please, right? So, even if you start scheduling things or running a business on the side, it isn’t quite the same thing. Usually anything you’re doing in retirement is something you can walk away from at any time. For me, I think to really enjoy the time off, I need to be focused and driven on something I’m passionate about as well on the other side. A few years back, when I took three weeks off to go to Florida in 2018 and 2019 – I holed myself up in a treehouse in the woods thinking I’d basically just sit there and write… and meditate, and read… and run… I did all those things, but after a couple days I also realized – I needed to get out and see people, too. And not just once in a while, either – I needed to venture out daily, even if just going to the store. That led to massage and acupuncture and yoga appointments… a bit of structure built in to my days here and there. Gotta find that balance, right? Anyway, today is a “free” day for me. It’s beautiful outside, too. Maybe I’ll run. Might do some yoga and/or meditate this morning. I want to play a bit of music today as well. Maybe go see my grandson shoot trap later. No schedule, no pressure… it’s awesome. May your days be full of freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Our best thoughts, our best selves, come to us when we step back and relax.
