Key West Here I Come !

I am heading to Key West, Florida with my husband and my sister and her husband. My husband and I are turning the BIG 50 this year. So, instead of throwing each other a party we decided to go to Key West. It will be so much fun to have my sister and her husband along with us. Here are a few good points on how a vacation can work to help us feel good in the long run. If you can’t get a way, a “Staycation” is the next best thing. Turn off your phone and computer and plan some daily activities. The point is to relax and defrag from the everyday routines and stress.

• Vacations Promote Creativity: A good vacation can help us to reconnect with ourselves; operating as a vehicle for self-discovery and helping us get back to feeling our best.

• Vacations Stave Off Burnout: Workers who take regular time to relax are less likely to experience burnout
 
• Vacations Can Keep Us Healthy: Taking regular time off to ‘recharge your batteries’, thereby keeping stress levels lower, can keep you healthier. Anything that can keep us healthier I am all for.

• Vacations Promote Overall Wellbeing: One study found that three days after vacation, subjects' physical complaints, their quality of sleep and mood had improved as compared to before vacation. These gains were still present five weeks later, especially in those who had more personal time and overall satisfaction during their vacations.

• Vacations Can Strengthen Bonds: Spending time enjoying life with loved ones can keep relationships strong, helping you enjoy the good times more and helping you through the stress of the hard times. In fact, a study by the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services found that women who took vacations were more satisfied with their marriages.

• Vacations Can Help With Your Job Performance: As the authors of the above study suggest, the psychological benefits that come with more frequent vacations lead to increased quality of life, and that can lead to increased quality of work on the job. After all, your mind has been refreshed. Employees have to take a vacation.....you’re not a Hero because you never take them.

• Vacations Relieve Stress in Lasting Ways: It should come as no surprise that vacations that include plenty of free time bring stress relief, but research shows that a good vacation can lead to the experience of fewer stressful days at least five weeks later! That means that vacations are the gift to yourself that keep on giving. YAHOOO!

The bottom line is that taking a good amount of time away from the stresses of daily life, can give us the break we need, so that we can return to our lives refreshed and better equipped to handle whatever comes. I really need a vacation. I pray that this vacation comes without any stressors. It seems like the last few vacations I took, came with added stress. I am praying for a fully relaxed and stress free vacation.

Okay, it’s got to be five o’clock somewhere!

Key West Here I Come!