Earlier this year, my friend was himming and hawing about whether or not she should go on a yoga retreat to Tahiti at the end of June.

This girl works her ass off. We’re talking 14 hour days, and often, weekends too.

“Go!” I urged her.

“Ya, but it’s $1800 just for the flight!” she reasoned back.

“And?” I asked.

“It’s a lot of money!” she responded, quite correctly.

Yes, $1800 is indeed a lot of money. But riddle me this: if you ended up in the ER with a ruptured appendix or a broken leg, and you got your health care bill, no matter the cost, you would pay it, right?

So my question back to my friend was this:

Why do we justify and subsequently pay for emergency medical visits, car repairs and other unforeseen expenses, but we have such a hard time justifying the cost of a vacation that we so desperately need? Does it feel too indulgent? Too careless? Too risky of a way to spend our hard earned money?

I get it. I feel that way too, in fact. But why can’t we all shift perspective and see that taking vacations, taking time for ourselves, is an emergency? Why? Because vacations count in a big way as preventive medicine. Food for the soul. The ultimate de-stressor.

As such, vacations can effectively reduce the risk that you’ll need to be hospitalized or treated for some stress-related ailment that could have been prevented if you had only taken a vacation! If you don’t take time out for yourself, time away from the stress of it all, then studies unequivocally show that your health is adversely affected. So, by that line of reasoning, you should totally be dropping money each year on vacations that make your heart sing (and meditation and yoga and other daily rituals that can reduce stress too). An ounce of prevention is worth is worth a pound of cure (especially if said cure costs thousands of dollars and an overpriced trip to the doctor).

I’m happy to report that my friend ended up going to Tahiti. And she had a blast. Go figure.

So what I’m trying to say is:

Go. On. Vacation.

If not now, then when?

This has been a public service message from someone who took her own advice and just got back from Hawaii.

And I don’t even feel guilty about it.

Lauren
xxx