Thank you guys, for missing me!! I have had a few e-mails asking where the heck I’ve been and why have you got nothing to read on a Monday morning – I really appreciate that you noticed and cared that I’d gone. And for those of you who didn’t notice or care…I’ve been on holiday! I’ve been in Tenerife for a wedding – beautiful day, beautiful bride and I had big hair…what more can one ask for? Well, summer in England for a start. But there are some things you cannot guarantee…summer in England is one of them!
– The Back from Holiday Blues –
Oh, boy, did I NOT want to come back from my holidays! I was enormously sulky about the whole business. Not only did I not want to come back, but the pilot compounded my lack of enthusiasm by announcing over Exeter that Birmingham was “shrouded in cloud, with 25 miles per hour cross winds, raining and 13 degrees”. Oh yip, fly faster. I am not a good flyer either so I spent the entire (interminable) landing clutching the arm rests and my rosary beads, wishing they’d let me jump out (much less scary) or land the plane somewhere where there were not 25 mph cross winds!
Now I’ve had a few days to recover from the ordeal and get used to wearing warm clothes again, I can’t really say I’m delighted to be back…but I am letting go of the holiday blues! In days gone by, it would be August before I was back to ‘normal’ but these days I kind of enjoy a couple of days of misery, then I get on with making things better. The interesting thing is that I love what I do, and still I have the back from holiday blues! Nowadays though, I love it when this type of thing happens because it shows me where things need to change.
What I loved about my holiday (apart from glorious weather, lots of nice food, the sea and watching beautiful sunsets from my balcony) was that I had space. Space to think, space to just wander around for a few hours, space to sit in the sun reading a book for hours, space to go swimming in the Atlantic or the rooftop pool, space to just be. Despite the fact that life is 100 times better than it was 5 years ago, it is still quite packed with things to ‘do’. I am one of these people who is never bored – there’s always something to read, write, watch, somewhere to go, people to get in touch with.
On holiday all that got left behind…and even though I was out there for a wedding and there were always people around and parties to be attended, there was spare time for purposeless pottering. Oh, I do this at home too, but I get irritated that I have wasted 10 hours puttering about! So over the coming weeks, I am going to be simplifying, decluttering, creating space in many ways and bringing more of that ‘holiday’ feeling to my life. And (when it’s not raining) I shall be finding a place where I can watch the sun set. A key ingredient of a happy life!
So, I guess that you are preparing for holiday season too? At least in this hemisphere. Do you get the holiday blues? Does it take you months to get over them? Do you use the experience to change something about your life to make it better and more ‘OnTheBeach’? Or do you use it as a stick with which to beat yourself about how much life sucks? You don’t have to sell your house and move to Spain to make changes that will give you that ‘holiday’ feeling. Small steps, small changes, and the back from holiday blues will help you make your life AMAZING!
– Something To Play With –
You don’t need to wait til you come back from a holiday to start making changes – think now about what gives you the post-holiday blues. If there’s a list of 200 things, cool – you have lots of ways you could change your life!! Pick one thing, just one, that would be quite easy to change…and bring some of that holiday magic to your normal life! Want to share your thoughts on this article? E-mail me. I love to hear from readers, and will respond to all e-mails.