Change of scenery or change of attitude?
In a very last minute decision we headed with some family to the beach last week. It had been planned for months but with all the recent changes in our lives we weren’t sure it was the right thing to do. Was now a good time to be away? Could we really justify the spending?
Turns out it was a welcome change to our normal routine. The stress of the many changes going on in our lives was bringing us all down. We needed a refresher. We needed a change of scenery. We needed to be a family without the distractions of every day life.
I learned so much last week. We woke in the morning with happiness, after all we were at the beach! We spent long days exploring, feeding the birds, playing in the sand and just having fun. We climbed into bed at night exhausted but still took a little extra time to wind down. We were carefree, relaxed and patient. Why is it we had to be 12 hours from home to experience this?
The bottom line was we had allowed our stress spill over onto the boys. They were reacting to us, they could sense our stress. Being away from home changed our attitudes thus changing theirs. There was still some bickering but much much less than in the weeks prior. They had their parents back!
It’s easy to look elsewhere for a reason for the chaos (job stress, financial woes, grumpy kiddos). All we needed to do was look within to realize it was us. We put the stress of home on hold to clear our minds. We enjoyed our children again. We let them be kids rather than expecting too much of them.
Could you use a change of scenery? Rather than making changes to the scenery perhaps a slight change in attitude will change the scenery around you! Of course getting away from the hustle and bustle is always refreshing but we can make each day refreshing depending on how we approach it. Remember: 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.
A pic of the boys carefree, loving each other and enjoying vacation.
