From the editor...
Daily Respite
Merriam Webster defines respite as a period of temporary delay, to put off, rest, or to grant oneself relief.
For most of us, July usually begins the time of the year when vacations or periods of rest are at a peak. Schools are finally in summer recess and singles and families alike make tracks to their favorite summer get-away destinations. What is so interesting is that most of the previous months are spent “saving up their tired” for a moment when they can finally breathe.
It seems such an interesting phenomenon when you think about it, however. Throughout the year we rush through our days with whatever it is we must do, saving up our tired for that moment when we finally grant ourselves permission to stop for a brief moment to rest. For fifty weeks, three hundred fifty days, eighty-four hundred hours...you get the picture; we rush through life never considering the jewels or those precious opportunities that we give up each day to live good lives — lives filled with meaningful respites each day.
When I think about this I can’t help but wonder about the negative impact this must make on what, could be, a good quality of every-day living.
Think about it: champion marathoners are champions not because they wait until the end of the race to catch their breath but rather they breathe each mile along the way. They understand the importance of pacing themselves and not saving up tired, but they train themselves to distribute it wisely throughout the race. They run well, because they pace well!
I am reminded too of situations where individuals work their entire lives, putting away every dollar they can for that moment when they can finally retire and then two weeks after retirement they suddenly are no longer here. Don’t get me wrong, we must all save wisely for that day when we retire but thirty or forty years is a very long time not to live. There are also those who plant beautiful gardens and yet they never take time to sit with a nice book and a glass of wine or lemonade to enjoy the beauty that they have worked so hard to create.
I can say these things because earlier in my life I was one of those people who although I understood that hard work is a virtue, I did not grasp that “living” and enjoying the fruit of your hard work is key to leading a virtuous life.
And then, there are perhaps those of you who are unemployed or your income will not allow you to take a vacation this year. I encourage you to look around where you are and consider the jewels that you pass by each day. Depending on where you live, there are state parks that very often have FREE beautiful lakes and paths that you can explore. And if you are in a more urban setting, check out the FREE museums and concerts in the parks and on almost every street corner. Pack a picnic of whatever you can afford. One thing I love about the French people is that they know how to take a bottle of wine, a piece of cheese and bread and turn it into a feast. It is never about what you don’t have that makes for good moments, but rather it is about what you do have and what you choose to do with them.
Yes, we all must work hard, because work is how we earn our living. But, we must also remind ourselves that “LIVING” each day, one moment at a time, is, after all, the ultimate destination.
Deigratia,
Bonnie
