-- you just need a sweet  little holiday!

Sometimes I forget how important a holiday is. DUH. Now that I'm back from a six day visit to Colorado, lapping up my niece and nephew and family members, taking in the surrounding beauty and not thinking about my daily life-work-etc pursuits, life feels so much more ... hopeful! And just plain pretty and nice and cute and fluffy and safe and lovely.

Before vacation: unmotivated, not enjoying normally fun activities, not into life, that simple. I think when we get here it's usually a sign to GET OUT OF TOWN AND FILL UP THE TANK!

I write that in caps because I think that's what my inner caretaker was trying to tell me and I just couldn't hear. So next time I'll look for that stooped shouldered feel of walking through life that tells me: Revive time.

Even a long weekend works.

So question to you: What are signs that you need a holiday, and how can you first catch those signs before it gets to a low point? Waiting too long for a get away is like exercising for too long and hard without enough fuel and sleep -- it takes days sometimes even weeks to recoup. Imagine how you could be enjoying more of your days.

And next time you take a vacation (a good one) pay attention to what really energizes, invigorates and nurtures you. I (re)learned how much physical beauty massages my soul back to life. Which means I need to get more of it in at home.

If you can't read your body or thought language yet, use a calendar. Most of us need some kind of break from the routine every six weeks. Find out when you start to get squiggly and gremlin-y in thoughts and put some candy on your calendar now.

xo t