Thankful for a Thanksgiving Break

Last week, the girls and I spent Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains, sharing a cabin with family, and tuning out the rest of the world. Of course, it was easy to do since the cabin we stayed in had no real WiFi and no signal for our phones. This, I wasn’t prepared for, I’ll be honest. I mean, I bought my Roku, my Echo Dot, my iPad, and a few other electronics. However, nothing worked. I know because I spent a few hours grumbling about it to the girls. I was going to have to socialize!!!!

Well, after they forced me to surrender to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to watch my Murder, She Wrote reruns, I packed the electronics up and climbed the stairs to where everyone else gathered. We actually talked! And played cards, shared some drinks and good food, and some even climbed a mountain where they found a cave with crystals. The weather was a little chilly, which was good when I sat out on the porch with my coffee and cigar, gazing out at the changing leaves on the trees as the fog drifted over the area. It was a time to shut down and just regroup some inner tranquility. I did get some words in because, well, we know me, but for the most part, we just sat around and shared stories, laughed, and enjoyed being in the moment.

And that’s what we need to do more of, be in the moment. With today’s technology always screaming at us and social media shouting for our attention, many of us have FOMO, the fear of missing out. However, one of the things I learned this past week is that there is nothing that can’t truly wait. I wasn’t missing out on anything, but if I had the electronics hooked up, I would have missed out on so many great things that happened around me, as well as the people I was there with. Sometimes, it’s a great thing to shut everything off and just be in the moment. It also gave me some great ideas for future stories, as well as rejuvenated me for when I returned home and had to sit for long hours at the desk, typing away. So, I’m thankful for family and time away, for the silence of the mountains, and for the ladies who force me to pack up once in a while and just get away. I hope you take the same amount of time for your mental health. It’s the best way to wash away the negativity that might have crept into our spirits this past year with everything that’s happened.

So, what are you thankful for? How do you take time away from the outside world? I’d really love to know how you make yourself be in the moment, so drop me a line and share.

Until then, Happy Reading,