As I write this entry, my family is getting ready to go on a big vacation. In fact, my husband and I are taking a full two weeks off of work. One of the days is technically already a paid holiday, but still, we are looking forward to a nice stretch of time away from our work. Some of that time will also be a nice stretch of time away from our home and responsibilities of daily life. In addition, I am taking the time to not write any entries for my blog, which is a break that I honestly find exciting.
I know I have written about this before, but it is important to take breaks from time to time. They don’t have to be something big like we have coming up, but they can be anything from a weekend getaway to deciding you are not going to take care of a certain task for a week (of course, this task would be something that wouldn’t hurt you or someone else if you didn’t do it for a week). Although in the United States we all seem to pride ourselves on how busy we are (I am no different), we forget that resting is just as important as doing. Instead of doing all of the time, we also need to just be.
Of course, when you throw depression into the mix, taking breaks or time away can be a lot harder. If you are depressed, taking a break may not make any sense to you. If you are caregiver, it sounds like a nice idea, but you may be hard pressed to figure out how to make that happen. These are all understandable thoughts. But, I encourage everyone, depression or not, caregiver or not, to think about ways that they can take a break from their current situation. Maybe it is getting outside. Maybe it is getting in a car and being driven around. Maybe it is shopping somewhere different or changing up a routine. There are many possible ways to take a break, and I hope you find that it may be a simple yet effective way to help take care of yourself.