It’s summertime and people everywhere are planning and going on their annual vacations. What a great time this is! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it is that we love about vacations and what it would be like to incorporate that into our everyday life. Can you imagine what that life would be like? I do a lot of work with clients visioning what their life would look like if it were as good as it gets. I find a reoccurring theme in their quite diverse visions: they all want that sense of peace, fun, and relaxation integrated into their everyday lives! To be able to not only play from this place, but to work, live, and create their life from this place also. I call this place the Inner Vacation.

Going on an inner vacation on a regular basis can transform your life from one of stress and drudgery to a life based on relaxation and peace. As contradictory as this may sound, this will actually increase your productivity and effectiveness at work, home, and in your relationships. It means living a life where the norm is fun and joy, and the stress and pressure are more easily dealt with.

How, you say? No, you don’t have to wait till you win the lotto, or for retirement, or until the kids are grown, or until you have more time to devote. In fact, you don’t have to wait at all. The Inner Vacation is available to you right now, at this moment for free, no strings attached. OK, there ARE a few strings attached. Here are the strings:

• You must be willing to look at things from a new perspective.
• You must be willing to notice and change what you are doing.
• You must be willing to give up negative or stuck thinking.
• You must be willing to play with new ideas and choices.
• You must be willing to give yourself permission to have more fun, relax, and experience joy.
• You must be willing to try again when it doesn’t work.

Look at that list of strings again. Think about them one by one, really take them in and see what they mean for you because for some people those strings are like chains and giving them up can be very difficult. Once you’ve really spent time with each, of those six strings and consciously make the choice to say “yes” to them, you are ready to board the train to your biggest adventure yet: The magic of your own inner vacation spots!

Over the next few issues of Creating Your Life we will spend time on how to create your own personal roadmap. For this time, let me give you the first stop on the itinerary: This stop is called Conscious Gratitude! I know many of you are going “huh?” but hang in there! Gratitude is actually the foundation for all Inner Vacations. You can do that right now, right here. Start by really noticing what you are grateful for in your life right at this moment.

Exercise: Make a list of all you have currently in the different areas of your life. Make 8 columns on a piece of paper. Label them–Friends, Primary Relationships, Money, Career, Health, Material Items, Spiritual Life, Fun and Hobbies, Personal Gifts and Attributes. List in each column everything you can think of that you are grateful for right now in that area of your life! Spend time daily looking at these lists and feeling true appreciation.