May142019
Team Blogsbeing on holiday

I am in the sky, on an aeroplane, on my way for a week’s holiday in Zante. My friend Claire is staying there for a month and asked me to join her for a week. The decision was easy!

We flew from Liverpool. It is an early flight. So I drove down from Scotland the night before to stay in a hotel airport. What could go wrong?

I arrived at the hotel at about 7pm. I parked and went into my case to get the paperwork. Then it hit me. My passport was in my rucksack. …at home… in Scotland. Oh dear. I shrugged, got back into the car and resigned myself to some more driving.

I rang my husband and he found my passport and kindly agreed to drive and meet me half way. I arrived back at the hotel car park at 9.30pm.

I parked, went into my case to get the paperwork. When I looked at it, I realised I had made the booking for April and not May. Oh dear. I shrugged and went in to the hotel reception. I explained what had happened to the sympathetic receptionist. I had to pay the full rate for another room.

Years ago this would have ruined my holiday. I would have given myself a hard time, beaten myself up and spent several days in a bad mood.

Also, I’m not ageing myself prematurely by ruminating that these are senior moments. I have always made mistakes like this. Today I just accepted.

The extra driving wasn’t fun. Having to pay for another room wasn’t fun. But I don’t need to pile on the misery. I can let go. I rang my daughter to have a laugh about it. She muses that she does things like that all the time.

The main idea in my mind is that things come in threes. So I find myself anticipating another hitch. I let that go.

I use the tale to cheer my friend up when she arrives at the airport. She is tired after her early start. We laugh about what the third hitch will be.

I catch myself nodding off periodically on the plane. I know there is snoring (but no drooling – yet!). I recognise I am becoming self conscious – what will people think! I recognise more self-created suffering in my self-consciousness. I let go. I will allow myself to nod and snore! The last thing the people sitting around me are thinking of is me. It is I that thinks of me!

This ability to let go comes from my years of mindfulness practice. I can see what is happening in my mind. I can recognise the potential for self-creating some holiday misery. Because of this I see that there is a choice. Thankfully, today it takes no effort to choose to let this all go.

After all, I am going on holiday. The sun, sand and turquoise seas of a Greek island await. A week of doing nothing. A week of being.

I used to be really bad at holidays. Controlling and upset by unmet expectations and assumptions. Struggling with having nothing to do.

I am better at them now. Open, curious and fundamentally OK with doing nothing.

I can enjoy my holiday!

I can use my mishaps to make others laugh – in this blog too. To make others realise that they are not the only ones that forget things or mess up sometimes. I can make the most of my mishaps as part of a normal life.

I hope you have a wonderful week in which you can accept and smile at your mishaps.

Kind Wishes

Heather

Author: Heather Regan-Addis

Heather began training in Mindfulness Meditation with Rob Nairn in 2004. She is British Wheel of Yoga trained yoga teacher, has a Post Graduate Diploma in Mindfulness Based Approaches from the University of Bangor, Wales and has a Masters degree in Studies in Mindfulness from the University of Aberdeen. She is a co-founder and director of the Mindfulness Association, a Mindfulness, Compassion and Insight teacher and leads the team that developed and delivers the Mindfulness teacher training program to teach the Mindfulness Based Living Course. She is an honorary Fellow of the University of Aberdeen and was involved in the development of the Masters program in Studies in Mindfulness at the University of Aberdeen, which is a collaboration with the Mindfulness Association and also teaches on the program.