Relax and fall apart

Sunday was absolutely beautiful. Just the kind of day people hope to get when they vacation in New Hampshire. I’m here all the time, but I appreciate it here as much or more than the tourists.
A few years ago my lovely wife worked at a hospital located in a major tourist town. It’s one of those places where the population increases ten fold during the vacation seasons. She saw a lot of sick and injured people from far away.

There were the common injuries one would expect, everything from broken legs from skiing to sun burnt dehydrated boaters.

Then there was something odd. There was a significant number of people that didn’t fit the vacation injury mold. They brought their problems with them. These people were often the hard working, hardly ever take a break type “A” personalities. Suddenly they find themselves on vacation and they fall apart.

These people were working sick and/or injured, often for months. They keep going by willpower and force of habit. When the go on vacation, they finally have a moment to listen to their body. Their body tells them to go to the hospital. It’s amazing the problems people ignore. That’s fine in an emergency. Our bodies can do some fantastic things. We can dip deep into our physical and mental reserves. However, we can’t do that 100% of the time.

I wonder how many of those people took the time to do a little self reflection. My guess is that most of them went right back at it. A small few may have asked why they were killing themselves doing something they hated for people they didn’t like.

On the flip side, how many people don’t take vacations; they take sick days? They work until they can’t physically do it at all. The emphasis in this society is to give 110%. A basic understanding of math shows that’s not going to work out well. How about giving 90%? What’s wrong with having a little strength in reserve.

Do you want your life to be a sprint or a marathon?

-Sixbears