Pathwalking 136
We all need to take a break.
I am walking my path on a regular basis, but once in a while there just needs to be a break. More than a break, however, I need to withdraw.
This can come in a number of forms. I might take the time to meditate, I might read a book, I might work on some other project that makes me happy. I could go on a hike or hit the gym or attend fencing practice to give my mind and body an alternate focus.
While it is necessary to take a break from work, it is also necessary to take breaks from life, from your path, from responsibility and the everyday necessities.
Small breaks are important. Everyone needs a chance to let their mind wander, to do things that are a diversion from the norm, and to recharge. At least a few minutes every day should go to this, because without it we get caught up in our routines, and rather than increase our focus is lessens it.
I have been fencing for more than two decades now. I teach new people this arte, and one thing that almost everyone tends to do along the way is to tighten their grip on their sword. We think that if we hold on tighter, we will have more control. The truth is, however, that the tighter the grip, the more control you LOSE. You also weaken your position, and provide opposition an opponent can totally use against you.
This is a metaphor for Pathwalking and life. The tighter you hold onto certain things, the more apt you are to weaken your hold. Life requires a delicate touch, and while it is important to find, walk and experience a path, too much focus and too narrow a path can lead to missteps and a loss of the path and all the complications that come of that.
Thus escaping from your path and loosening your grip is extremely important. It is a matter of both mental and physical health that is all-too-often neglected.
Our society, at least in America in particular, is all about work. Work hard, work harder. We have lost sight of the struggles of those before us who won for us weekends and a standard work week of only forty hours. We push for more out of less, we structure our infrastructure to make due with one where we used to have three. We frown upon more time for rest and relaxation, even though we firmly admit we desperately need it.
Everybody needs to take a breather. There is no one who cannot and does not benefit from some form of escape, and while those short daily breaks are important, so too are the longer vacations.
Whether it is the weekend, a long weekend, or a full-on vacation, we all need to take breaks. Even Pathwalkers need from time to time to break away, to not be all about their path or paths, and to take time to relax, draw in new perspectives and new ideas by escaping the usual.
As you are reading this I am currently on vacation. Thanks to the wonders of technology I have been able to meet my obligation to myself by posting this as I do every week, but I am in fact not online. I am escaping from my everyday life in more ways than one, and this is something that no matter how much I do not acknowledge the necessity of, it is still something beneficial to me.
Everyone does this differently. Some people might be in a comfy chair on the beach, but still checking in with the world they have left behind. Some have gone to greater lengths and extremes than I to go off the grid and get away. The what and the how are not as important as the action in question, and the why is what I am explaining in this writing.
It is intensely important that we acknowledge our base needs. One of those is the need for escapism. Great or small, it is very important that we take the time to escape from the everyday, even including the paths we are walking.
Know that sometimes in our escapes we find new paths to walk. There are certainly times when the escape we have taken might open up a new avenue, a new idea and a fresh path to walk. Further, taking that break might help redirect you, or even strengthen what path you are already treading upon.
Taking breaks from life is a healthy practice. We all need to allow ourselves that liberty, and not only accept it, but embrace it. The path we return to will still be there, but it may change, and it may be clearer and easier to walk than before.
How do you break from the everyday?
This is the one-hundred thirty sixth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share. Thank you for joining me.
The first fifty-two weeks (Year One) of installments of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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