I recently returned from a trip to Sedona. Originally, I had no intentions of writing about my trip. But while I was there, I reached a monumental epiphany. I wanted to share it with you because I think it could bring meaning to your life, too.
The trip was meant to be a Mom/Daughter trip for Macy and myself. We had both been working hard planning and preparing for my high performance June Mastermind event. The good news? Our hard work paid off. The bad news? It completely drained us. We needed a break. A chance to get some space and unplug.
We set out for an all-inclusive spa resort. You might be thinking Ritz Carlton, but this was quite the opposite. This was an off-the-beaten-path “destination” resort, meaning that we had to find it. Tucked deep into the Sedona canyons, it was almost invisible. It was luxurious, but what made it luxurious was not human opulence (in fact, there was no cell phone service!). It was Mother Nature. Majestic red rocks. Crisp, clean babbling brooks. High desert landscape.
Naturally – pun intended – it was spiritual. And beautiful. It gave me a lot of space to think and reflect, and most importantly, recharge.
And that’s when it dawned on me. I had set it up as vacation, a space to unplug. But it wasn’t a vacation. I wasn’t unplugging.
My great a-ha: I was plugging back in.
There’s a difference between a vacation and a retreat, I discovered. Vacations serve a very different purpose. They are designed to get away from the day-to-day and go play, to have fun and explore. That said, they are usually packed.
When Garry and I traveled through Italy last year, we wanted to see as much as we could see and do as much as we could do. Every day we followed an itinerary from the time we woke up to the time we went to sleep. Not to mention, we ate and drank far more than usual – that’s what we do on vacation! We came home feeling like we needed a vacation from our vacation.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no complaints! I love vacationing. And, have a real need for it. Having new experiences, creating lifelong memories, breaking away from routine and the chaos of the day-to-day. Vacations are about exploration. Seeing more of the world. Spending quality time with my husband and children. Unplugging.
But what I realized was: I need to REplug, too.
Let’s use a high performance race car as a metaphor. Like that Formula 1 Ferrari, I love to perform, and at full throttle. I work hard. I push limits. And I enjoy it. It’s as if I was built to race at full speed.
But can a race car continue to race, push boundaries, break records or win without a routine check up? Of course not. That’s why there’s a pit stop. The pit stop is designed for refuelling, replacing tires, and making repairs mid-race. Because if the car doesn’t refuel, it will run out of gas. And then it’s game over. All that high performance effort gone to waste.
Like the race car, on the racetrack is where I feel most alive. But I can only run full throttle until I’m out of fuel. Then I must fill back up. Or plug back in.
In my meditative mountain moments (and there were many), it became apparent to me that I had been totally drained, and what my body and soul was needing was to be refueled. I did not need a vacation. I was in need of a retreat, in the truest definition of the world:
Retreat: (v) to withdraw to a quiet or secluded place.
REtreat: a way to treat myself again. A space (and place) to “RE” me: REconnect, REnew, REjuvenate, REplenish, REfuel, REvive, REgenerate, REenergize, REawaken.
And, the most profound accidental realization?
As a leader, business owner, wife, and mother, my life’s work is about taking care of others. Taking care of my employees. My customers. My audiences. My children. My family. By the nature of my role in life, very few are capable, even if they desired to do so, to take care of me.
The magical place I escaped to…is all about taking care. I felt (and was allowed to feel) fully taken care by the gifted therapists, chefs, guides, trainers and amazing staff. The nature of this resort allowed me to take care of myself by allowing others to take care of me for 4 days of pampering.
Not to mention, the space and enchanting environment allowed me to REconnect with my daughter and share a profound experience together. The particular spa bestowed an assured environment for meditation, self-reflection, reconnection to nature, and deep-meaningful conversations combined with some soulful pampering and luxurious experiences.
One word to describe it: Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
My great Aha?
UNplugging isn’t the only thing necessary for health and happiness. REplugging is equally important.
I wish for everyone to experience this, because I think everyone needs this. What keeps many of us from having this experience? Lack of Funds. I paid for this trip for me and my daughter with cash. Out of my Dream bucket. If you would like to learn the money system that I use to fund my vacations and retreats, join me this Wednesday for a (free!) Money Mastery session at [11:00] AM CST.
