August 6, 2012

Replenish, Refresh and Celebrate by Joanne Ladley

I’ve spent the last week in one of my favorite places – Big Timber, Montana.  Montana, and Big Timber specifically, is where I go to replenish my energy storage tanks.  It’s so important to replenish and to refresh.  And by that I mean take a deep breath, slow down and actually see what’s all around me, soak in the wonder of a different topography, and celebrate by showing all the gratitude I feel for the opportunity that is presenting itself.

Big Timber reminds me to keep balance in my life.  Last month Roger North wrote about the potential pitfalls of being busy.  I admit to thriving on a busy schedule.  I deliberately work on keeping in check all the dangers Roger mentioned in his post.  And I freely admit to getting tripped up by them periodically.  I’ll apologize to the people who have been affected by my inadvertent tripping.  But usually before I begin to catch myself tripping more often than I want, I plan to visit Big Timber where busyness is out of my realm of possibilities.

In Montana I can hear the silence.  I can see the Milky Way – literally see it.  I can feel the warmth of the ranch families who are glad to see a neighbor back in town and ask about life back East even as they wonder why anyone would put up with that lifestyle.  I drink in the opportunity to replenish my energy, both physical and spiritual, and express my gratitude for all the world to hear.

Research shows the American worker spends more hours and weeks at work than in any other culture in the world.  Even when you love your work as much as I do, time away from work is important for so many reasons.  Whether it’s uninterrupted time with family, a refreshing quiet time alone, time to catch up on actually reading a book just because you’d like to, or time to enjoy a change of scenery because you need a new outlook, the energetic, refreshed result of a few days away is always welcomed.  And they say with enough practice, you can get to where that same result can happen in much shorter timeframes if you can only spare an afternoon at a time.

So go ahead; give yourself the gift of time.  Schedule it on your calendar – that’s the only way it will happen for most of us.  And come back refreshed, replenished and celebrating a new, energetic attitude of gratitude that will propel you through that first day catching up when you’re back in the thick of things at work.