What is a vacation anyway?
Can we find one through the pages of travel magazines, websites that portray locales with exotic beauty and escape from the chaos of our everyday lives?
Certainly our physical surroundings can contribute to a perception of change and a reduction in our day to day challenges of living. But if we truly believe a vacation from stress and adversity is a physical location, we are deluding ourselves.
Since all suffering and serenity arises from states of mind (of course influenced by life’s external events) the only true “vacation” can be found through mindful practices. Meditation, yoga, prayer, exercise assist in clearing our mind of negative thoughts. Being present in the moment, not attaching to thoughts or feelings of any kind, merely observing the content of our minds, allows us to reach a state of tranquility with is surprisingly restful.
Of course we can do this when we travel. The change in our physical location can assist us in altering our state of mind. But we can also bring our suffering with us by our thoughts and worries. Likewise, we can achieve a sense of serenity without physically leaving our own homes.
So learn how to find our “vacation-mind” on a regular basis through practice and attention. It may save us some money as well.