1% Thursday: Vacation/Holidays

Contrary to what some people might think, all those headache or migraine days are not mini-vacations or mini-holidays.  They are not days off.

That’s like saying you took a day off work for a refreshing day in a major world battle zone to get hit by shrapnel.

Sometimes we go to one extreme or the other.  One extreme?  Work extra hard to make up for the time we’ve missed – never take any time off.  The other?  We feel like we’re always sick and that we never get any work done, and we give up and sit around the house.

Neither of those is very refreshing.

You need time off.  A day here, a day there, and a week here and a week there.

Have you planned your vacation this year?  Are there holidays in your future?  Take the time to plan them.  Plan them so that you can have a flexible, relaxing time (not so that every minute is scheduled – we all know how that will turn out!).

Don’t be ashamed to take some time off.  What?  You don’t work full time, under an employer?  All the better – plan some time away – some time that’s different from what you normally do.

We need changes, breaks, mental refreshment, all that.  Take the time you can get.  It’s not just for you – it’s for those around you, it’s for your long term goals.  Taking time off is a long term pacing strategy, not time to sluff off and be lazy.

I realize this has its own challenges for those with chronic pain – maybe that’s another post.  But this week, I want you to think about your next time off – plan it, prepare for it, and look forward to it.

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!