I stepped off the plane last night with a long-lost spring in my step and feeling rejuvenated. (Love that word!) I did work while I was gone, and I was tired, but at the same time, I spent lots of time reading, writing and just thinking, and my time away was truly good for my soul, corny as that may sound, and I honestly felt as if I was in another world. A much quieter, calmer world. This time a week ago, I was "unplugged"...No cell. No internet. No television. No worries. No stress. For the first time in too long.
Today...well, like I said, back into the frying pan. Several times today, I found myself longing for the serenity and peace I was feeling a week ago. How quickly those good feelings fade when faced with too many phone calls to return, too many emails to answer, and problems greeting me at the door. It's never a good thing when your boss says to you, 3 minutes after you walk in after a week off, "Ummmm, we have a little problem you need to figure out" and that "little" problem turns out to be that some people I sent an invitation to for an event that is next Sunday have called while I was gone thinking it's THIS Sunday, and that is a HUGE problem, not a "little" one at all. Yeah, that's a run on sentence. Hopefully my English major friend isn't reading this. (If you are, sorry, forgive me please). Fortunately, it was a mixup; I hadn't put the wrong date on the invitation. Whew. Dodged that bullet, too bad there were others patiently waiting their turn to be dodged.
Just before lunch, I closed my office door and stared at this picture on my computer screen for a few minutes:
That is York Beach in southern Maine. I've written before how much I love the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. Well, I think I love this beach just as much. It's completely different than the calm, white-sanded beaches of Florida that gently lap at the shoreline, but I love it's rugged beauty anyway. This afternoon, I envisioned myself sitting on a boulder, reading, listening to the waves crashing on the rocks, watching the sunlight sparkle and dance on the surface of the water...and then, I was ready to open my door and face the rest of the day. My boss buying us all lunch from St. Louis Bread Company helped, too.
My friend I visited in Maine showed me a beautiful picture she has as the background on her computer and told me it is her "take-me-away" picture. I think the picture of York Beach above will be mine. Any time I am feeling stressed and/or overwhelmed, I will gaze upon it and remember going there with a dear friend, close my eyes, and imagine myself there again. I have a feeling I will be doing that a lot in the coming weeks!
With this post today, I am going to start doing something new. I have written before about how I have been keeping a gratitude journal, where I write things each day that I am grateful for. I would like to start listing and/or writing about them here, too. Not every day, but every day that I write. So here goes!
I am grateful that my house was cleaner (much cleaner!) when I arrived home late last night that it was when I left last Sunday. It's not perfect, but it is good enough.
The thing I am most grateful for today is my sweet daughters who completely cleaned my van while I was gone. I hadn't given it a good cleaning in way too long, I won't even say how long, and it is immaculately spotless right now. Inside and out. I'll hire them out if the price is right! I could use some extra money right now...
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