Taking a Day Off!
The first day for my Public Speaking class, I asked my college students if they are familiar with “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off“…not to my surprise only a handful of these students have seen the movie. We briefly described the plot of this cinema classic, as the main character, a high school student, plays hooky for a day, and then enjoys a fun adventure in downtown Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend, with the principal on his tail at all times. I give my students two excused absences every semester. I call these absences their Ferris Days.
I can not say I have had the opportunity to take as many Ferris days as my students, especially since I became a Mom. However last week, for the first time, I cashed this baby in!
I had way too many things on my to do list, including a handful of errands that my 2 year old son would need to accompany me. Our family has been going non stop for the last two months, and we were all feeling the affects. I woke up already a tad defeated just thinking about all the tasks that lay before me. I knew I had to get things checked off that day. However, for a moment, I considered what the day would be like with my son, if I wiped EVERYTHING off our to do list. I knew it would not come without consequences…. work I put off, people who needed me to be somewhere. However, I could not ignore the freeing feeling I experienced as soon as I considered a Ferris Day, an option.
How many times, do we push ourselves, senselessly, or robotically, to just get things done? I rarely ever take a day off but something inside me was begging for me to slow down. I kept thinking, over the past month, I needed to make time to start journaling again, just so my soul could catch up to my body. My life’s pace and our family’s schedule was speeding by and I had not taken the time to process all that we were doing. I felt off, and needed a day to catch up. NOT to catch up on laundry… just to pause life for a day (actually it was about 6 hours), to stop, smell the roses, journal and really take stock of my life and and my family.
I felt rejuvenated, refreshed and relaxed. My to do list was still there, I owed a few people apologies, but my perspective had completely changed.
We all have schedule challenges and many of you might be saying, “I work, I could never take the time off, or must be nice….” But think about this… if we run and run, frantically from one thing to the next, how long can we keep all the balls in the air at once? Eventually, we do need to pause and stop and take a breath.
Look at your calendar…
What can you do on your Ferris Day to help you take pause? When might you need to take your Ferris Day?
Hats off to you for being able to take a Ferris Day. I’m always thinking of what I should be doing and how far behind it will set me to take a day off. At the same time, I feel that we do need those little breaks from time to time to clear our heads and get the “creative” juices flowing again.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Sexymoxiemama! It is SO difficult to justify a Ferris Day…but important nonetheless to take pause, every now and then!