The D-cation!

It’s that time of year again when we are hearing from Dear Hearts about either vacations that they are currently enjoying or soon will be getting away to enjoy.  Something that makes my heart sing amongst many is when you turn your computer on & see an attached photo from a loved one who is having a blast in a warm, sunny little piece of earthly paradise.

We can each choose to define our own versions of vacations any way that we want.  Mini-vacations can be as deluxe or simple as the range of imagination &  budget are.  During the years when our sons were especially young, one form of mini-vacation that I looked forward to was what I called, “the coffee or tea spa getaway.”  It sounds more elaborate than the reality of the “getaway.”  Some coffee or tea “spa getaways” involved a hot beverage in a favourite cup, closing the door to our room, grabbing a book & asking my husband to keep the boys company for an hour.   Other coffee/tea spas included getting out of the house, meeting a friend at a local café & sipping & chatting & laughing.  Going to the hairdresser can be a treat with that feeling of being treated to a half hour of a taste of pampering.  A vacation retreat that feeds my spirit is any walk or hike within nature.  The more trees, the better.  The fall is my favourite walking time of the year yet each season gives us something to appreciate & delight us.  It does not have to be a place to be a vacation.  Don’t you find that it is a state of mind that we give to ourselves?

Parts of life can seem hurried & harried & the gift of a break, a mini-vacation or a big vacation are treasures of time that we give to ourselves to restore our physical, emotional & spiritual selves.

If you & I have either diabetes or another 365 challenge, then mini-vacations may be medicinal when scheduled frequently.  There was a time in my life when I would have a “to do” list that was unrealistic to achieve in any given day.  The worst part though was that I would tell myself that once I got everything done on the “to do” list that I would take some time to re-energize.  Have you ever told yourself that one?  How did that work out for you?  It did not work out at all for me.  Through trial & error & listening to folks that have a peacefulness about them, I learned that the mini-vacation has to go onto the “to do” list closer to the top than the afterthought that it had been.  That old saying about the dust bunnies waiting yet things that are truly important can pass us by is ever so true.  With time come choices.  There is not enough time in the day for any of us to do absolutely everything that we want or need to do.  The gift becomes what we discern to be what truly matters & doing those as often as we possibly can.   Okay, so the weekend comes & the phone rings & it is a Dear Heart.  Do we tell our friend that we wish we could get together but…or do we declare at least silently that we will make time for a “mini-vacation” & go out for a cuppa right then & there.

The best part of having a mini-vacation in whatever form it is in is the thought that someday those of us with diabetes will be able to take something even better than a vacation.  The word that best describes that is , “D-cation.”  That is the word that would capture perfectly the moment when we all find out that diabetes has been cured.  Then we can have the best vacation of all…a permanent vacation from diabetes…from the needles, glucose tests, insulin, blood labs every few months, the shakes from the low blood sugars and the profound loss of energy with high blood sugars.  Yes, a “D-cation”, that’s the vacation that our whole community will get away on together one day.

While we are waiting for the cure, let’s go ahead & fully live our lives with passion & purpose & pizzazz!  Cheers to one day booking that “D-cation” with our whole community!

Smiles, Saundie :)