Thursday, August 15, 2013

Mental Health Days

Tomorrow I am taking a day off from my day job.  For many years I have jokingly called these “Mental Health Days”.  Sometimes I take them because life has been demanding and I simply need a break.  Other times I take them for no other reason than preventative maintenance.  On a spiritual level they are retreat days.  I am going to get up early tomorrow as I normally do on workdays.  I will make my wife breakfast and get her settled as I have done every day for the last month.  When she’s good I am going to drive to the monastery and spend the morning there.  I haven’t been there since the funeral of my friend, Father Dennis.  The first thing I will do when I get there is visit his grave.  After that I will likely have a cup of coffee in the retreat house garden.  I will also spend some time sitting in the large Abbey church bathing in the silence.  I hope to also spend some time with one of the monks who is a good friend of mine.  I have always been a person who needs some space and time alone.  I probably have a personality that needs this more than some.  I actually get kind of cranky if I don't spend some time just being with myself.  However, even if you are a social butterfly I believe you would benefit from such time.  You don’t have to run off to a monastery.  A local park would give you much of what I experience when I go to the monastery.  The important thing is to occasionally step away from your life.  Take some time to breathe and chill out.  Recharge your batteries.  Remember what is truly important in life.  Put things into proper perspective.  In the crazy lives that many of us live it is easy for priorities to get out of whack.    

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