If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am self-employed.  Taking days off is a hardship because when I don’t work, I don’t get paid.

The result is that sometimes I don’t take vacations for years.  Yes, years.  The last real vacation I took was in April of 2017.

Probably the next thing you should know about me is that I don’t like cold weather.  To be more specific I can’t stand the wet, dreary, overcast days that seem to dominate the weather in Central New York for the months of March, April and May.  This year that has even extended into the first part of June.

I have been seeking to escape those months for years but when you take into consideration the challenge of take days off (and not getting paid) you can see the dilemma.  But sometimes, you just have to have a mental health day and take a day off!

Yesterday was a day like that.  The promise of sunshine and increasing temperatures sent me outside to explore some local nature trails and an attitude that there is sometimes more to life than making money.  A conscious decision to let it be OK to not be at work for one day led to my stress levels dropping like a leaf and even to some light shopping (because papa needs new shoes)! 

By the end of the day I realized that the world had not come to an end because I took a day off, my phone wasn’t blowing up with computer woes and my bills were still getting paid.  Work did fine without me for one day.  Sometimes it is nice not to be needed.

Of course by 9PM I was trying to figure out how to make up for lost time which led me to work at 7:30 AM the following day.  Sigh.  I am still self-employed. 

But sometimes taking a day off is just the ticket.