“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”
~Sidney J. Harris

It’s funny how you see things so much more clearly after you’ve been away from them for a while. When we were on vacation with my cousins and their children and grandchildren, we could see how each child had grown and developed over the past year. I found myself wishing I’d photographed them each year standing in the same place, so I could make a flip-book of their photos! It always astounds me to see how much they change!

In a way, backing away from the Blogosphere gave me the same type of perspective. As if peering through glass, when I arrived home I saw people coming and going at various levels of fatigue or rest, depending on whether they too had left their computers to take a vacation.

I felt refreshed, as everyone suspected I would, yet looking down the road I could glimpse a potential future of fatigue and running-without-stopping gradually taking over my life again if I let it.  So I made a decision, one which I hope will help me to maintain this feeling of clarity and peace with which I returned home.

I’m going to observe a Day of Rest. [Translation: for me, that means I won’t work on Sundays!]

Growing up we never worked on Sundays and before I started blogging I used to shut down the computer on Sundays, but in the past few months, I’ve found myself wondering if I could afford to not be online then. That was the wrong question. I think I should have been asking: can I afford to be online seven days a week?

I just wanted to let you know why you won’t see me around on Sundays. But I’ll be back on Mondays – refreshed!

Do you observe a day of rest? John Falchetto said it’s important to take time, whether or not it is on a Sunday or a set day of the week. What keeps you from running-without-stopping through your life? What do you do to prevent burn-out? How do you keep your momentum fresh and your balance in-check all year round?

photo credit: Lori – a peaceful, late-afternoon photo from our vacation