Vacation Lessons

When it comes to vacations, Clark Griswold and I have much more in common than I would like to admit.  That’s why our recent nearly seamless vacation (if you don’t count the tornado warning and one of my kids falling down a flight of stairs) was incredibly relaxing.  We went to Perdido Key, Florida and other than seeing the Blue Angels one morning and going on a dolphin cruise one night, we had absolutely nothing planned.  There was no rushing from thing-to-thing; we just did whatever we felt like at the time.  This gave me time to read, reflect and relax.  There are a few lessons that I brought back from this vacation that I’d like to share with you.   

It’s more important to do things WITH your kids than it is to do things FOR your kids.  You’re probably not like me, nerdy and an embarrassment to not only your children, but to children everywhere.  So, be yourself and have fun with your kids.  Play!  I know that your knees probably creak like mine do, but get down in the sand and build sandcastles with them.  It’s so easy to sit in your beach chair, chill and watch them build sandcastles, but it’s so much more important to build sandcastles WITH THEM.  Do you want your children to remember you as a passive spectator or as an active participant in their childhood memories?  What do you remember of your dad?  Do you remember playing catch with him in the back yard or him dropping you off for your practice with your pitching coach?  We as a culture have farmed out much of our chances to interact with our kids to professionals.  It’s more important to do things WITH your kids than it is to do things FOR your kids. 

       

Live in the moment.  This is something we really tried to focus on while at the beach.  As soon as we would drag the beach cart with all of our supplies and get everything set up, the kids would begin to ask when we were going to the pool.  We tried to get them to focus on what we were doing right then, instead of what we were doing next.  By the end of the week they were repeating back to me in the most bored, monotonous tone they could muster, “We know Dad, live in the moment.”  In our culture today it is hard to do this, because everybody is always wondering what’s next or what everybody else is doing.  Smart phones and social media have only made this natural tendency worse.  This week I sat next to a gentleman at a St. Louis Cardinals game who was in his late 50s, early 60s.  He easily spent 75% of his time at the game looking at his phone…no exaggeration!  Why did he buy a ticket?  He basically paid money to sit in a stadium seat at a sporting event and play on his phone!  I realize that he may not have been a huge baseball fan, but I’ve seen this happen in many a venue.  I’ve seen groups of friends completely ignore each other to communicate with their friends that weren’t present.  I know that you have too.  Part of living in the moment is being “all in” with your surroundings and the people around you.  Experience your life, not the digital representation of somebody else’s!  Live in the moment.

Catch as many sunrises and sunsets as you can.  We go through life at such a hurried pace that we don’t often take time to appreciate the breaking of a new day or the magnificent hues of a sunset.  I love to run early in the morning or late in the evening, because you get to witness one of the most incredible moments of the day.  It also gives you time to think about the coming day or reflect on the events that transpired during the day.  We sit in our air conditioned & heated homes and tend to lose touch with creation & the beauty of daybreak and dusk.  Start off or end the day by enjoying the gift of another day that God has given you and the uniqueness of it.  Catch as many sunrises and sunsets as you can.