During my recent vacation, I was overwhelmed by grumpiness. There was a big gulf between my usual expectations for vacation and what went down.
I had to stay home due to COVID. No travel to new or pleasant–let alone new and pleasant–locations.
I didn’t get to enjoy much good weather: we had 1 or 2 nice days, and then it was rather unpleasant.
I didn’t get the car to drive around town, running long-delayed errands and feeling independent. Instead, my husband had to ferry his dad back and forth to the hospital for visiting hours.
I didn’t get to go out to tasty restaurants, both because of COVID and because of dietary restrictions.
I didn’t even feel particularly well-rested.
I think I alarmed Mr. PiN, who sent me out for a walk despite the cold weather. He told me to get some fresh air and sunshine.
I came back in a much better mood, and decided to focus instead on what I actually did this week. My mini Ta-Da list. Or, as Dawn Baker of Practice Balance suggests, I reframed my thinking as: this week I got to…
So here we go; this week I got to:
- Sleep in every morning.
- Read a new book I was looking forward to, all in one day.
- Re-read an excellent book on a day best spent indoors.
- Neaten up several areas of the house that had been bugging me for months.
- Take care of some important financial chores (spousal IRA, anyone?) before their deadline.
- Go for a long walk with a friend and her dog. Both humans were vaccinated, so we didn’t even wear our masks! (It felt a little illicit, I must confess.)
- Leave my scrubs in the dresser and put my wedding ring back on my finger, for the whole week.
On reflection, I supposed I (re) learned a few lessons. One, your attitude can make or break. your vacation. Two, when grumpy, go outside for a walk to fix your attitude.
Does this sound like a relaxing vacation to you? Or does it fall a little flat in the retelling?