How To Get A Free Vacation

It's vacation time. Time to push that paperwork aside. Step away from the keyboard. Kiss rush hour traffic goodbye. Pack your bags. Pick out your favorite destinations and strengthen your grin.

People are just working too hard these days. We are working hard to find jobs, working hard to keep our jobs, and working hard to retire. All that pressure to perform and for what - a ticket to an early grave?

Is a happy medium at large? Unemployment is rising as fast as work related stress. The fluctuating economy leads to companies downsizing, which means more work for individuals at the same or less pay scale and thus more stress at the cost of sanity.

Work related stress may be responsible for as many as 250 suicides each year, more than the total number of fatal accidents at work recorded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

These astounding figures are highlighted by the trade union Hazards magazine in a recently published report called Crying Shame. They are based on statistics in Japan where an estimated 5% of suicides are considered work related.

Statistics are not pretty and to avoid becoming a part of them, I want to invite you all on a free vacation. You don't have to fight the lines at the airport, face flight cancellations, book hotels, rental cars, get extra cash, travelers checks, or go through the rigmarole of figuring out an itinerary. You don't even have to move.

This vacation can be taken from right where you are - wherever you are. It's free so you can be free. Ready? Let's go?

It all starts with you taking some time for yourself. It could be five minutes of five hours, it's up to you. The only requirement is that the time can not be interrupted.

Get comfortable in a position of your choice. It can be on furniture or off, indoors or outdoors - anywhere you are comfortable. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, hold it, now let it go. Repeat. If you choose a mantra or a word, insert it here. Do this about three times or until you feel very relaxed. Imagine your body as form, not substance. (You can also have someone read this exercise to you.)

Okay now that you are comfortable, see yourself at the vacation spot of your choice. It can be anywhere you desire - anywhere. You can go scuba diving in the Bahamas, paragliding over the Mediterranean sea in Barcelona, skiing down the slopes in the Switzerland, gazing at the Colosseum in Rome, or the Mayan ruins in Mexico.

You may even get lost in the Bermuda triangle or find yourself banging on bongos in Bora Bora. Wherever you go, you will be feeling the sights, sounds, textures, and atmosphere of that place, while engaging your senses in a feeling of euphoria.

I like going to the Sistine Chapel in Italy just to stare at the ceiling. I haven't been there in person yet, but I have been there in Soul. You don't have to go to an exotic place if you don't find any joy. The point is that you have the ability to shift your attention anywhere.

Once you shift your attention, you are accessing a deeper region of your Soul, the place that brings you the most joy and a place where you can always be at home.

Working is a necessity, but it doesn't have to kill us.

Alexys Fairfield is a writer and rhapsodist in Los Angeles who specializes in ways to enlighten the human experience while helping individuals find happiness and fulfillment in this moment. Embrace this journey of a lifetime. Life gives you wings, all you have to do is fly.

http://www.soulmeetsworld.com