Every year I get away with my family to an overseas holiday location: I have been doing this for so long that I have lost count of the amount of countries I have visited, the number of sites I have seen and the tours I have been on.
This yearly holiday was built up to be another exciting adventure that had been planned months before, even though I never actually read what I was doing and where I was going until the days leading up to my departure. All I remember was planning the trip to get away and take a break from life.
When I caught up with friends over the Christmas break I was frequently asked, “Are you going away for the holidays?”, to which I would excitedly reply YES and rattle off another exotic location or destination far, far away.
I calculated that, in my many years of travel I have logged up a great many miles and covered just about every continent in the world. Over time I noticed that my trips gradually decreased in length from two months, to several weeks, to a week, when I was often wondering why I was travelling in the first place?
Was it something to do with appreciating historical landmarks, natural wonders, meeting and connecting to the local people or was I trying to take a break from my life? These questions would often resurface and I couldn’t quite understand why.
Recently I returned from a short holiday trip overseas with my family. Whilst enjoying the sightseeing and connecting with the gorgeous local people, I just didn’t feel as though I was truly being or enjoying me. I engaged in all the tourist activities, relaxed by the pool, read a book, visited historical monuments… but felt as though my days were not being fully lived. I noticed I was getting very tired during the day, napping regularly and often looking for excuses to eat, even though my body was clearly showing me I wasn’t hungry. I could feel in my body that something wasn’t right.
The vitality that I know myself to have was gone. It didn’t make sense – I was on my yearly holidays!
I noticed that the typical tourists’ day consists of:
- Sleeping in,
- Heading down to a late breakfast with a smorgasbord of food and drink,
- Being driven around by a local tour guide to a tourist attraction,
- Returning to the hotel for lunch,
- Swimming in the hotel pool followed by more drinks and food by the bar,
- Afternoon nap,
- Shower and dress for pre-dinner drinks,
- Late dinner or an evening out in the city.
Although this was the rhythm of the holiday crowd, I felt as if I was missing my usual rhythm. I felt out of whack and wasn’t truly enjoying myself… I wasn’t truly enjoying me… I felt like I was putting the needs of others first as a way of not disrupting the status quo, to keep things light and happy on the surface and to keep up with the holiday spirit. Did I have an ideal or a belief about holiday etiquette and how a holiday should be?
But the question that kept repeating itself was… “What was I wanting to get away from and what in my life was I wanting to take a break from?”
I then realised….
I realised from my experience on my recent holiday that I was living the rhythm of the ‘yearly holiday’ and not the rhythm that supported me. I could now see that I was taking a break from me so that I could live the holiday rhythm. It was much easier to plod along with everyone and fit into their holiday rhythm rather than feel how great my rhythm was for me. Even though it felt great choosing what was right for me and my body (which was very different from others’ choices), I didn’t want to stand out and look like the odd one out. But then I question myself, “what was I actually wanting to blend in with?” Late-nights out? Overeating? Sleeping in? Indulging in food several times a day? When I looked at it like this I was able to break the craziness of ‘trying to blend in’ and I felt the power of my daily rhythm and the absoluteness it brings to my body – so why wouldn’t I want to let this shine out?
It became clearer…..
By day three of my 10 day long trip I got my STOP moment! I felt sluggish, heavy and there was a level of irritability that was slowly being felt. I realised then and there that I needed to stop following the rhythm of a ‘typical (yearly) holiday’, as it no longer supported me. I chose to come back to my natural daily rhythm.
I woke and felt to make this holiday not about ‘a getaway to take a break from life’, BUT about taking the full me on this trip. I brought back my natural rhythm in the day and went about living and enjoying me in each moment.
Once I claimed that the way I go about living my daily rhythm was truly about what felt great for me, things started to shift. I no longer felt the need to do what others wanted whilst on holiday. I spent more time listening to what felt right for me and how I wanted to enjoy this holiday. My holiday rhythm is actually the same as my day to day rhythm because there is nothing to take a break from or to get away from except me.
There was nothing to get away from as I was truly enjoying being me.
What did this look like?
I decided that I would choose what to do in the day rather than waiting to hear what others were doing. This meant that I didn’t feel like I was a ‘party pooper’. I joined my family on sightseeing trips, I also made choices to return to the hotel if I felt tired and needed to rest for a while. I made changes to the way I ate and waited to feel whether I wanted to eat instead of eating because we were heading out for a meal or everyone was getting the afternoon cravings for a sweet treat.
I carried healthy snacks and water for longer journeys in boats, trains and buses and always took an extra piece of clothing to keep me comfortable and warm. I honoured myself by going to bed when I felt tired. I noticed and appreciated that my hotel roommate would turn down the volume on the TV and respectfully turn off the lights to not disturb me. These simple adjustments during the day made me feel so much lighter as I was returning to my natural rhythm and playful self.
Yes, I must admit that it freaked out my family when I woke early (whilst on holidays!!!) to start on work projects on my iPad. I retreated to the bathroom as it was the only quiet space that would not disturb the others in the room whilst they slept. With a cushion as a seat and a blanket placed lovingly in the bathroom bathtub, I set to work: I felt at home even though I was miles away. Other days I would nestle myself into comfy couches in the front foyer or find a quiet spot near the pool for a while before returning to enjoy time with the family.
Yes, the family remarks came thick and fast as to why I was “doing any work whilst on holiday”.
- You should be relaxing it’s a holiday.
- Why are you doing that now?
- We’re on holidays to get away from work.
- You’re supposed to be having fun, not working.
All these questions had popped into my head well before they were asked of me. Yes, I did ponder on these but my body gave me the answer loud and clear; spending some time on the projects I am involved in actually wasn’t work at all and I realised from this holiday it actually supported me.
‘Connect to your rhythm and let the day unfold.’
If the day’s unfoldment included implementing my natural rhythm that supported me from home then I needed to look at and build it into my day and way of being while on holiday.
Taking this trip helped me realise that I don’t need to take a break from life when I am on my yearly holidays. I realised that when I am living the way I feel to live, it doesn’t matter where I am and what I’m doing – it’s about how I’m living in that moment. I came to appreciate how much I enjoy travelling and holidaying with my family and that there was no need to ‘get away’ or switch off or change who I am, even though I was miles away from home. I still enjoyed all that was on offer and by reconnecting to my natural rhythm I felt the same vitality as I did at home.
I now know how to avoid feeling sluggish whilst on holiday.
I have come to realise that:
- My yearly Holidays are what I choose them to be.
- Holidays can be a way to ‘take a break from life’ or ‘get away’ or Holidays can be an opportunity to enjoy what the world has to offer by bringing the full me to every day and moment of my trip… and therefore to fully enjoy being me…
Thanks to the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have come to know and feel the importance of living truthfully and bringing and ‘being’ the real me into each day… including my yearly holidays.
By Anonymous