What am I taking a vacation from?

“Have you any idea how blessed I am? Have you any idea how grateful I am for living a life that is so full of joy, happiness, peace, and love that I don’t think for a moment about the need to take a vacation…“

Allow me state my bias and prejudice upfront. In the conventional sense, I have not taken a vacation in more than six years. Now, as you allow that opening statement to sink in…allow me to share some background.

When I worked in corporate Canada, I adored my vacations. I soooo… looked forward to my vacations. I would plan and save money for my vacations. I would begin planning and saving for my next vacation almost as soon as I came back from the previous one! I would dream up elaborate destinations I wanted to go to. And what a tension release it was to even ‘dream up’ these vacation. The mere thought of going on a vacation, to get me away from the pressure-packed career and life I was leading, was a stress reliever in and of itself, let alone the actual vacation. The mere act of planning for my vacation was a very effective distraction from the life I was living, but secretly despised.

A short while ago a dear soul friend returned from one of those stereotypical ‘dream vacations.’ They traveled afar to a tropical island where they spent several weeks frolicking in the pearly-white sands of majestic beaches, with palm trees swaying in the gentle, south pacific breezes. You know the scene, perhaps…

Upon returning from this south pacific dream vacation, my friend declared that they would no longer live there life ‘wanting to get away from it all.’ They made a declaration that they would transform their life so they never needed to take another vacation again.

Conventional wisdom, wellness psychology of the west, suggests we need a break from our jobs to relax and regenerate / rejuvenate. This conventional wisdom purports that it is unhealthy to stay in a stressful environment for too long; that we need to take a break so that our stressful lives don’t adversely affect our health and well-being.

Allow me to ask a question…

When we take a vacation, in the traditional sense, what is it we are taking a vacation from? A stressful job? A stressful relationship? Some place or some thing I want to get away from? A life I don’t want to be living? An existence that does not suite me?

Do you ever ask yourself these questions? I certainly did when I was working in corporate Canada, but I was overwhelmed at even the concept of living my life another way; at living my life in such a way that the very idea of ‘vacation’ was something that was not needed, but something that I may, or may not, decide to do. Not because I could, or could not, but because I didn’t need to take a vacation from my job, or my life.

When I left corporate Canada 6 years ago, I set myself adrift to explore a new way of living and seeing the world I lived in. Just one of the wondrous manifestations of that new way of living and seeing the world I live in is the letting go of the need to take a break from the life I am living.

Why would I want or need to take a ‘vacation’ from the work I love? It doesn’t even feel like work to me, in the traditional sense. It is ‘work’ in the doing sense, but not in the sense of ‘trying.’ My life’s work is effortless. My life’s work is blessed. My life’s work is a gift. Why, on earth, would I want or need to ‘get away from it all’ and take a break? My life is my work; and my work is my life. Have you any idea how blessed I am? Have you any idea how grateful I am for living a life that is so full of joy, happiness, peace, and love that I don’t think for a moment about the need to take a vacation, in the traditional sense.

May you experience this joy, happiness, peace, and love in your lifetime. What a wonderful world it would be.

Shanti, Namaste, Agapé,