YES! Mondo Vacation for Me!

I took a brief hiatus from blogging, working, schooling, studying, and mostly thinking. I just spent two days in Las Vegas and seven days in Anaheim. Six of those Anaheim days were fun-filled with my wife, three children, and family members at Disneyland and California Adventure! Though mini-vacations help get through the stress of day-to-day activities, there is nothing more rejuvenating than time away from everything in a warm climate surrounded by family and loved-ones. We live in a difficult time where life requires constant running, therefore, we need to get away from it all. There is no better way to do it than to leave your own home, town, or even State and visit a place you enjoy.
Once I return home, it will be back to working as a full-time therapist, part-time University instructor, full-time doctoral student, and much much more. But, I'm ready to get back to the grind for another year and will be planning my next vacation shortly.

Mini Vacations or Mondo Vacations?

Dr. Larry Beall, PhD, a local psychologist and expert in traumatology has been running a clinic in Salt Lake City, UT for over 15 years. Over that time he has written or authored many papers and other helpful tidbits of information that have not been published. I came across one of these that he entitled "Mini-vacations" which was a list of 100 small activities that one can do to "vacate" from daily activities and deal with daily stressors. Though the ideas seem simple and irrelevant, it often time seems that it is just those small and simple things that keep us going. Taking time to "smell the flowers" and remain present in the moment can give us the well-needed rejuvenating relaxation to finish out a day, finish a homework assignment, or keep us from wanting to cause harm to our own children :P I know that the last comment may seem uncouth, but I know that many of us feel stressed with our children at times.
Reading through the list I was reminded of the time I was completing my undergraduate degree while trying to maintain employment. I spent many hours at the American Fork Library crouched over books and typing on my archaic IBM laptop. To remain interested, I would promise myself time to read one to two chapters in a fiction book of my choice. Most of them were sci-fi and I even dabbled in the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Once finished with my chapters, I would return to the assignments. The mini-vacations kept me going and kept the stress from becoming overwhelming. What can you do to just keep going?