Recover from your vacation

I just got back from vacation. Maybe you did too. Or maybe you wouldn’t call it vacation, maybe it was just time with family. Maybe you had horrendous travel experiences at O’Hare. Maybe you sat in traffic for way too long. Maybe you ran from one thing to another to maximize your time. Maybe Black Friday sucked the life out of you, or overeating, or unwelcome family politics.

At this point, maybe you’re back home and raring to get back into your healthy routine of working, eating mindfully, exercising, seeing friends, and generally taking care of yourself. You might have no problem snapping back in, or, like me, getting back into routine might feel like an impossible task. I want to, yes, but can’t find the motivation or the energy. The inertia I had before taking that trip and ate pie for breakfast five days in a row isn’t there anymore.

Here I have the tendency to beat myself up about not getting back into it. I had it before, what’s the big deal now? This is not a helpful thought. Here is a more helpful thought: I am recovering from an exhausting experience. Even though I’m home, even though I’m more comfortable, I am not ready (today or this week or until after Christmas) to get back on that horse. And this might be news: this is a totally acceptable thought to have.

As fun as they are, sometimes we need to recover from our vacations. Even the refreshing, relaxing ones might require us to take a beat before jumping back in to “normal” life. Maybe you need to mourn the leaving of that vacation. Maybe your body is particularly sensitive to car or plane travel. My guess is it takes at least a few days to decompress and detach from work, and likely by the end of the trip you’re already trying to psyche yourself up again to start on Monday. How much fully present time does that allow you? That’s a lot of mental gymnastics just to “take a break.”

So – if you need it – remind yourself that just because you’re home and took a break from “normal” life does not mean you don’t need some additional rest. Go easy on yourself this week – and next week if you need. Look at your goals through the lens of a marathon and trust that you have the ability to get back into action when your mind and body are ready.

A coach can help keep you accountable to rest and action. As you head into the new year, I encourage you to think about what changes you’d like to see in your life. If you have questions about how coaching can help, please get in touch with me through my website, schedule a free consultation, or keep learning about coaching here.

Go get ‘em this week.