When do you really take a break? From work, business, life, kids – all that stuff. I know sometimes it is a challenge to make it happen. I am taking a break right now; I am visiting family in Newfoundland. I am working as little as possible and spending time with my people. I have the boys with me, so I don’t have a break from them, yet I got crafty, and last week the boys were with their dad and out of my house for the whole week. I really enjoyed it, but by the weekend I was missing them. It was a nice reminder – when you’re in it all the time and dealing with the kid stuff you forget how much you like them.

For me, part of taking a break is feeding my soul. Finding those things that recharge my batteries, that fill me up. In life, we have activities or people who suck energy away from us and activities and people who give us energy. Sometimes in the day to day we don’t realize how much we need to be recharged.

I am a North Atlantic girl

For the first couple of days, I have an adjustment period, a bit of, holy-shit-what-am-I-doing, and Am-I-doing-this-for-2-weeks-? I miss my own bed (been here four nights and already have had two different beds) and our time clocks are buggered up: 4.5 hours is just enough to screw with you. I stress about the next two weeks and have those moments of totally freaking out. I breathe through them and just keep going.

I feel a bit out of sorts, yet I am just going with the flow. Yesterday my sister, the boys and I went for lunch to a brewery where they have a grilled cheese food truck and mango beer. I drank some craft beer – did a sampler of four at the Port Rexton Brewery. So cool! Then we went for a hike. This is something I really wanted to do while in Newfoundland. We all have hiking boots, and even though I have a weird anxiety around hiking (not something I do a lot), we are going to do it.

Two hours later I found myself on the Skerwink Trail (Port Rexton) and the “easy hike” my sister said it was is a lie. I stood on the trail looking out at my ocean – the wind, the smell, my sister sharing her favorite place, my boys enjoying themselves and seeing views as they have never seen before. I could feel it deep inside me, feeding my soul.

I was soooooo out of my comfort zone yet I just took it a step at a time, I huffed and puffed and just took my time. I would stop and take a picture and just drink in where we were. There is no other place on earth like this; this is part of me.

Finding what that feeds your soul

I know it is not always easy to take a break from your life. The question is: where can you find a place or an activity that fills your soul, that brings you peace and maybe takes you out our of your comfort zone at the same time? Find something that you can do: a walk, a yoga pose, laughing with a friend or your kids, something, whatever it is. We need it more than you have any idea.

Life is for living – we only do it once.