I returned to the grind early Monday morning with a recharged outlook for the job and life in general.
In theory, a week of vacation is supposed to do that for you. However, I can’t honestly remember when I’ve taken an entire week of vacation before. Normally, my stratdegy has been a day here or a couple of days there.
I’ve never considered myself a work-a-holic but then few who are would ever admit to being one. My work ethic comes from my father although I’ve never felt I could match him (even today in retirement he, in all probability, does more each day than I do.)
However, after some advice from a co-worker I decided take an entire week off. When you factored in the weekends which bookended the vacation week, then the total number of days off was nine. Wow, nine days. Would I be able to make it that long without the structured environment of work?
My better half Pam and I embarked on our annual trek to the Smoky Mountains early in my vacation. I must confess to being a little uptight when I arrived. It actually briefly crossed my mind — for whatever reason — that I really didn’t want to be on vacation. Happily, that line of thinking quickly disappeared as the cooler mountain air and the scenic view of the river flowing constantly by our motel began to carve away at the layers of stress which are naturally associated with daily work.
By our second day in the mountains, I found myself much more relaxed. A good football-related book and an afternoon nap helped make work drift even further from my mind. The river also seemingly continued to carry away whatever stress I had left.
“This is just what I needed,” I thought to myself.
When we arrived back home, I still had several days in front of me before work would resume. I watched several old football games without fear of the phone ringing or having to figure out how I would finish the paper for another week.
When I had my fill of classic gridiron action (which admittedly took a while) I took to watching a few favorite movies. With no pressure to turn in for the night because of the work alarm clock, I found myself watching movies well past the midnight hour. The ability to sleep late in the morning made up for the long hours of movie viewing.
Even on the last day of my vacation, I was able to take advantage of it, as I was able to enjoy an afternoon of swimming thanks to my good friends the Brown family. As I sat in a lounge chair poolside late Sunday afternoon after an afternoon of swimming and meal from the grill, I felt as relaxed as I had been in years. I could have easily drifted away right then as I believe every muscle in my body was at ease.
It’s funny, I thought. My back doesn’t hurt. My neck doesn’t ache. I don’t have a headache. Sometimes the best medicine is a little rest and relaxation. It wasn’t something I even had to go to the drug store for.
I’m happy to report I got plenty of that last week. The batteries have been recharged. I am looking forward to the new school year which has arrived and am eager to chronicle them each week.
My next full week of vacation is a long way off, but something I will be much more willing to take next time. I wonder how I made it this long with it.
Chris Bridges is an editor with Mainstreet Newspapers. E-mail comments about this column to chris@mainstreetnews.com.
