When life gets too busy, too noisy, too crowded, or too whatever ... the best thing you can do for yourself is to get away.
Seriously ... no matter what the news media tells you about the state of our economy, there's one thing worse than impending financial doom ... your own impending doom.
What's the point of hoarding for a rainy day if you won't be alive to dance in the raindrops?
So give yourself permission to leave town for a day or two and find the balance you've been putting on hold.
Where you choose to go doesn't matter. But it must be someplace that it's not easy for you to run back to or where someone you know might find you.
Once you're there, here are a few suggestions for making the most of your time away from your life.
1 - Stick to your routine as much as possible, but don't be militant about it. Sleep in if you want to, but don't stay in bed all day.
2 - Don't stress if there's no gym or pilates class where you're going. If your hotel room has a floor, you'd be amazed at the workout you can get lifting nothing but your body weight. Pushups, situps, balancing exercises, squats, leg lifts will keep you in shape until you get back to your exercise of choice. As for transportation, walking and biking will get you where you're going while keeping your mind and body fit.
3 - When it comes to food and drink, just because it's available, doesn't mean you have to consume it. As an experienced traveller, I know the temptation of partaking in the foods and beverages of the places I visit. But if too much partaking is going to lead to bloating the next morning, and prevent me from enjoying the next day, then why bother. Everything in moderation is OK. But know when to say when.
4 - Be quiet. Practice silence. Write, listen to music, listen to your thoughts, let go. Turn off the television.
5 - Doing nothing is sometimes more productive than doing too much. Don't be tempted to fill your day or plan it down to the minute. Have a plan, but plan for spontanaeity.
6 - Listen for messages from the universe. A conversation with a perfect stranger could be your inspiration for a book, a book you pick up to read might offer a solution to a nagging problem you've been struggling with, a song you hear might help you see things from a different perspective.
If you take this time for yourself, you'll find it takes just a couple of days away from your life before you start missing it.
And that, my friends, is the greatest reward of getting away ... remembering that what you left behind is priceless.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Proud To Be An American
As someone who was born outside of this country, I have always felt that the pride I feel to be an American and gratefulness I feel living in the United States -- the greatest country in the world --is greater than that felt by someone who was born here.
But I had never realized the depth of my pride and gratitude until my first visit to Washington, DC.
I have travelled extensively throughout the world and always marvelled at the ancient history and buildings of cities such as Rome and Athens. I love the U.S., but I always envied the ancient history of buildings that have managed to survive thousands of years of history and are still standing.
I've always felt a sense of disappointment that the U.S. doesn't have that history. Ours is a young nation and as such, our oldest buildings are a mere 200 plus years.
My disappointment turned to joy, however, when for my 50th birthday I was given a gift I will always treasure -- a trip to our nation's capital.
DC is a place that I've always taken for granted -- a place I always thought I'd visit. But there were other cities to conquer. And like the New Yorker who has never been to the Statue of Liberty because "I can always go there," I never went to Washington.
I am so happy that's changed.
There's nothing like being face to face with a larger than life Abraham Lincoln sitting peacefully in his memorial, oblivious to the thousands of flash bulbs and photographs of tourists who at that moment don't realize they are standing on hallowed ground.
That same statue that looked over my shoulder as I posed for a photograph was the same statue that looked over Martin Luther King's shoulder and a quarter of a million other people decades earlier as he gave his famous "I have a dream speech."
The steps of that capitol building were the same ones on which presidents have stood for decades long before I was born.
That White House is the same one that presidents that I have only read about in history books have called home.
Those bars where I had cocktails are the same ones that if the walls could talk would tell secrets that would make the Monica Lewinsky scandal look like a children's book.
Goosebumps, tears, smiles, love, gratitude -- all were just a glance away everywhere I looked during my three day stay.
Furthermore, watching this year's inauguration ceremonies was that much more meaningful having walked the streets of DC and recognizing the area.
My own political leanings disappeared while I was in D.C. They didn't matter. Because no matter who is in office, our nation's capital will always have one thing that no other city in the world will ever surpass.
It is the capital of the world's greatest nation.
But I had never realized the depth of my pride and gratitude until my first visit to Washington, DC.
I have travelled extensively throughout the world and always marvelled at the ancient history and buildings of cities such as Rome and Athens. I love the U.S., but I always envied the ancient history of buildings that have managed to survive thousands of years of history and are still standing.
I've always felt a sense of disappointment that the U.S. doesn't have that history. Ours is a young nation and as such, our oldest buildings are a mere 200 plus years.
My disappointment turned to joy, however, when for my 50th birthday I was given a gift I will always treasure -- a trip to our nation's capital.
DC is a place that I've always taken for granted -- a place I always thought I'd visit. But there were other cities to conquer. And like the New Yorker who has never been to the Statue of Liberty because "I can always go there," I never went to Washington.
I am so happy that's changed.
There's nothing like being face to face with a larger than life Abraham Lincoln sitting peacefully in his memorial, oblivious to the thousands of flash bulbs and photographs of tourists who at that moment don't realize they are standing on hallowed ground.
That same statue that looked over my shoulder as I posed for a photograph was the same statue that looked over Martin Luther King's shoulder and a quarter of a million other people decades earlier as he gave his famous "I have a dream speech."
The steps of that capitol building were the same ones on which presidents have stood for decades long before I was born.
That White House is the same one that presidents that I have only read about in history books have called home.
Those bars where I had cocktails are the same ones that if the walls could talk would tell secrets that would make the Monica Lewinsky scandal look like a children's book.
Goosebumps, tears, smiles, love, gratitude -- all were just a glance away everywhere I looked during my three day stay.
Furthermore, watching this year's inauguration ceremonies was that much more meaningful having walked the streets of DC and recognizing the area.
My own political leanings disappeared while I was in D.C. They didn't matter. Because no matter who is in office, our nation's capital will always have one thing that no other city in the world will ever surpass.
It is the capital of the world's greatest nation.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
What I Learned At Work Today
As Executive Producer of a television news Web site, I get paid to play on the Internet all day. Seriously, my job requires me to be logged into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a host of other Web sites that most companies block their employees from accessing from their work computers.
Having access to all this information teaches me valuable lessons that you just can't learn in school.
Here is a sampling of a few things I learned in January:
First call 911: An eyewitness to the recent US Airways 'miracle landing,' wrote in an online blog that he was uploading photos of the plane in the water when he realized perhaps he should call 911 and tell them a jetliner had just crash landed into the Hudson River.
If you see breaking news happening, grab your cell phone and call 911 before you start uploading photos to a news organization's Web site.
A bad economy breeds bad crooks: I recently published a news story that featured surveillance video of a group of thieves robbing a store.
While the robbery was in progress, security cameras were transmitting crooks on large screens throughout the store. In one shot, one of the bad guys look up, sees himself and wave.
If you find yourself waving at a camera that's recording you breaking the law, perhaps a life of crime is not for you.
I love my dog but ...: A South Florida couple loved their deceased dog so much, they paid $150,000 to a laboratory in Korea to have it cloned. I am not passing judgment on the people who did this. But if you have that much money to burn, here's a much more constructive suggestion for keeping your pet's memory alive. Rescue an abused or abandoned animal and give the money to the shelters and rescue groups that need it.
Internet symptom checkers can kill you: During a recent annoying bout with tearing eyes, I turned to the Internet to check for possible causes. One Google search later, I was convinced I had Rinderpest, an acute, highly contagious viral disease with no known cure. Every Web site I searched confirmed my self-diagnosis.
Fortunately, a friend pointed out a small detail I had missed completely. Rinderpest is found primarily in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. And only cattle suffer from this disease.
You're not alone: No matter how obscure your interests, or how unique you think you are, there's a group on the Internet of likeminded individuals. Here are a few groups I recently found on Facebook:
National New York Yankees Haters Society; Women Who Hate Shopping; Knowing all the words to the sound of music-DOESN'T make me uncool; I hate my thighs and knees.
Try it. Search through Facebook groups and see if you can't find at least one other person like you.
Perhaps that's why, despite all the negative things you hear about the Internet, it's addictive properties and how it's killing the family, people cling to it like a lifeline.
At the end of the day, going online guarantees that in a big, bad, lonely, impersonal world, you will never be alone.
Having access to all this information teaches me valuable lessons that you just can't learn in school.
Here is a sampling of a few things I learned in January:
First call 911: An eyewitness to the recent US Airways 'miracle landing,' wrote in an online blog that he was uploading photos of the plane in the water when he realized perhaps he should call 911 and tell them a jetliner had just crash landed into the Hudson River.
If you see breaking news happening, grab your cell phone and call 911 before you start uploading photos to a news organization's Web site.
A bad economy breeds bad crooks: I recently published a news story that featured surveillance video of a group of thieves robbing a store.
While the robbery was in progress, security cameras were transmitting crooks on large screens throughout the store. In one shot, one of the bad guys look up, sees himself and wave.
If you find yourself waving at a camera that's recording you breaking the law, perhaps a life of crime is not for you.
I love my dog but ...: A South Florida couple loved their deceased dog so much, they paid $150,000 to a laboratory in Korea to have it cloned. I am not passing judgment on the people who did this. But if you have that much money to burn, here's a much more constructive suggestion for keeping your pet's memory alive. Rescue an abused or abandoned animal and give the money to the shelters and rescue groups that need it.
Internet symptom checkers can kill you: During a recent annoying bout with tearing eyes, I turned to the Internet to check for possible causes. One Google search later, I was convinced I had Rinderpest, an acute, highly contagious viral disease with no known cure. Every Web site I searched confirmed my self-diagnosis.
Fortunately, a friend pointed out a small detail I had missed completely. Rinderpest is found primarily in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. And only cattle suffer from this disease.
You're not alone: No matter how obscure your interests, or how unique you think you are, there's a group on the Internet of likeminded individuals. Here are a few groups I recently found on Facebook:
National New York Yankees Haters Society; Women Who Hate Shopping; Knowing all the words to the sound of music-DOESN'T make me uncool; I hate my thighs and knees.
Try it. Search through Facebook groups and see if you can't find at least one other person like you.
Perhaps that's why, despite all the negative things you hear about the Internet, it's addictive properties and how it's killing the family, people cling to it like a lifeline.
At the end of the day, going online guarantees that in a big, bad, lonely, impersonal world, you will never be alone.
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