Where is your happy place?

Where is your happy place? Where do you escape to in your mind when things get crazy?

Most days, life goes on in fast forward. We are all in ‘reaction mode’ taking things as they come because we don’t have time to slow down and think ahead. Every day our ‘to-do’ lists get longer instead of shorter. We have become an army of multi-taskers with our heads in our phones (I am typing this draft on my phone while putting my kids for a nap because I can’t seem to find any other minute to type!).

We need an escape, even if it is only temporary. Even if we only get to run away in our minds. We need somewhere to ‘be’ that is calm. Hakuna matata. Where is that place for you?

Obviously like most parents, my most precious happy place is with my kids in a cherished moment. Unfortunately when they ARE the stressors, that image isn’t very calming. We always need a back up. For example:

I could feel my heart start to race as soon as I got up from the hospital bed. The corridor was cold and I really really didn’t want to be there. As I took that first step into the operating room, I kept telling myself “I’m not here. I’m not in the hospital. I’m in Orlando. I’m walking into the gym at Grand Vista resort. I’m getting on the treadmill and starting it up. It starts out slow but I’m anxious for it to pick up so I can get going. I look out the glass window in front of me and gaze at the lake in the center of the resort. The window is so clear and so close to the lake’s edge that I feel as though I can walk right out across the water. There is a huge fountain in the lake. I watch it throw water forcefully into the sky before the drops lose momentum and come falling back to the surface causing ripples throughout the otherwise quiet lake. I follow the small waves from where they start at the fountain until they disappear into the calm water. I can see where the sunbeams meet the lake’s surface like two old friends, glad to see each other, ready for their daily stroll.” You just forgot that I was really in the operating room, didn’t you? So did I.

That’s what I mean about the power of a happy place. Think about every detail of a calm, relaxing place. It takes you away from where you really are and at least helps you forget. You are able to center yourself – and come back to reality with a new outlook.

So where is your happy place? Please share!