more perspective …

Isn’t vacation time an ideal moment to get things into perspective?

For me, it definitely is. It’s a moment to check and challenge my commitments, my ambitions and the goals I have set myself in the past few months.

First thing, arriving in this divine spot on earth, I unpack all the books I decided to finally read during these weeks of changed speed. In the last couple of years, I also took course-work with me, clients and some work I wanted to do  for the communities I am engaged in. And that is, since I left my corporate job, for which I felt I should be checking and answering e-mails once a day when on vacation in spite of my absence notification. It always turned out that getting work done is even more difficult on vacation when I want to be with my kids, my husband and do all the things I was looking forward to all winter. In the end, it still was about negotiating time slots, juggling with appointments and feeling I’m never where I should be.

So this year? Real vacation. I’m a freelancer now, no course-work as I’m a credentialed integral master coach. Beautiful thoughts and here I am in front of my computer. Having this feeling again that I might be spending my time in this little European paradise negotiating and juggling. Working with the most beautiful perspective I could wish for, but not really taking the time to enjoy it. I mean really enjoy it with all my senses, the smell, the taste, the sight, the feel of it.

So, time to take perspective.

What books do I really want to read? (many!)
How do I want to support my clients? (a little less frequently)
How do I want to support communities? (a little, with clear boundaries)

How often do I want to publish a blog post, knowing twice a week is my target? I think I might not stop writing posts altogether for the next few weeks, I might be writing about encounters with me, my loved ones, books, … and my guide for doing it or not will not be to achieve my target of 2 posts per week, but rather if there’s something I want to write and share NOW.

How is that for you? What are those things that prevent you from shifting gear during vacation time? As a practice, check for moments during you vacation where you feel you need to juggle. Then, take a moment to reflect if all these activities really are part of your vacation or if other parts of life want to take over. How can you know if they should be allowed in or not and to what extent?

I wish you many moments this summer to get things into perspective, align them clearly and start refreshed into whatever awaits you after summer!

PS: I’m off to reading now and maybe will share the wisdom of those books with you, sometime!