Vacation Is the Best Medicine

Millisa and I got back from our two-week honeymoon on May 21. It was the first time either of us had left our jobs for such an extended period and, whether our employers agree with us or not, was a well-deserved break. Upon returning home, we both felt recharged and refreshed. We had acquired a positive new outlook on the future and that gave us incredible feelings of happiness - nothing could stop us. 36 hours later – Reality crashed landed at 6:30 Monday morning with a screaming alarm clock and the wreckage of a wonderful vacation strewn everywhere. By the end of the first day back, the refreshed and recharged feeling I had a mere day and a half earlier had mysteriously vanished, replaced by the familiar feelings of stress, frustration and the good old “screw it” attitude. Like I said, it wasn’t instantaneous. It started with the alarm clock and gradually accelerated through 10 a.m. and never let up until the ride home. In the back of my mind, I still felt good. I was, psychologically, still on the wedding/honeymoon high that had gripped us both for the better part of the month prior.

So here we are, violently jerked back to reality from a state of mind that only a vacation can generate. Meandering through the work day occasionally looking at the clock as if to confirm that it ain’t time to go home yet.

Chowder.