Yesterday was Labor Day in the U.S. – a much needed holiday for me after a very busy August. If you had asked me last week my plans for the day, I would have told you that I would take the time to catch up on the nearly 100 emails that I have yet to address at work having been out of the office much of last week. However, taking my own recent advice of sometimes letting work wait, I decided to do other things for the day.
For starters, I stayed in bed until mid morning enjoying the first long sleep on my new Sleep Number mattress since it was delivered last week. Then, I took care of a few errands, some with the help of my son, Jason. I enjoyed a little reading, a little writing, some study, TV, shopping, an afternoon nap, and a nice but muggy walk with my dog – all blissfully requiring very little thinking.
There are a world of people who have to work on holidays. I hope they are appropriately remunerated for it and given time off soon to have their own unofficial holiday. The body and mind need time away from work and routine to energize and build up enthusiasm for the return to the norm. That’s what yesterday did for me, so now I’m ready to hit the ground running again.
Some people like to fill their holidays with nonstop activity planned from beginning to end. That is their prerogative. I don’t care for that, however. I’d much rather chill out in my own man cave doing simple things.
Next week I will – to quote our British ancestors – go “on holiday” (vacation) for the week, taking time to stay at home and mostly do some long overdue reading and writing. I’m looking forward to the “staycation.”
Whether the holiday is a national one observed for a day or a vacation for several days, leap year lesson #244 is A holiday is a much needed change of pace.
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