Do you ever have times in your life where you sit and think and despite all you know, you still question and wonder what it is all about? I think this happens a lot right after a vacation. You have had time to decompress (even if it was mixed with a few days of food poisoning), let some of the stresses of life go and come back with just a little more energy to face it all over again. Yet, when you return all that you left is still there, but you just have a little more rejuvenation to try and rebalance, reprioritize and make an attempt to get what you can get done every day,

I am not sure if it is scientifically proved (although I suspect that it is), but post vacation depression is likely very much a reality. You come off of a period where it really does seem like you own your own life. You get to experience new things, see new places, try new food and reconnect with friends whose relationships long needed nurturing. You fall out of routine and make the day whatever you want it to be. You escape from what is happening in the country (especially if you traveling outside it) and have a few moments to just to be. Then suddenly it’s all over and you are back to the routine and looking forward to the next. It is only natural that the high that you felt while being away leads to the temporary low you feel when it is all over.

The thing that I try and focus on is that I ever had the opportunity to be able to spend the time in the first place. To be thankful for the means to be able to go, see and explore and have that opportunity for “me time” that I often write about. I am thankful that I have friends that I am able to travel with when school is in session and my spouse is unable to go. Yet, we have those times together when school is out to reconnect and enjoy our own time together. I try to find those moments where I can just look out from my balcony, either in a hotel or a ship and just take in all that is there in front of me. The vastness of the ocean or the bustling of the city, all of it just waiting to provide you with another unexpected adventure. It is the people you meet like Mr. Keith in this picture who has been carving for 34 years and hand carved these birds out of single piece of wood. Every time I look at them I will think of him and Jamaica and smile. That in itself will bring me to a happy place in those times when I need an escape the most.

Our lives are full and complicated and there seems to be more coming at us every day. Unfortunately, there are those that never stop and take the much needed break that will benefit both they and their families. At the end of our lives I don’t think that it is likely that we will look back and say that we wish we worked more and played less. Often, it is too late when we come to the realization that we should have slowed down and taken in just a little more of what life has to offer. It doesn’t have to be grand exotic vacations. Sometimes the escape is just right outside our back door.

If you have been feeling a little overwhelmed and that you just need a break from it all, make sure you take that break. Temporary post vacation depression is worth dealing with when the alternative is mental and health related issues that come from not ensuring that we are giving our bodies and minds the break that they so often need. No one can take care of us as well as we can take care of ourselves and we deserve the opportunity to live the rich and full life that we were meant to have.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

Mornings with Ron is not available as a podcast on anchor.fm/morningswithron and on most podcast sites.

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