Taking a week or two off from work for a vacation is a lovely and healthy thing. The trouble is transitioning from vacation mode to back to work status.

Six hours is probably long enough to stare at a blank screen in hopes that the blog fairy will come along and bitch slap me into productive writing mode. This is me giving up and just writing from the heart.

I wish that every time I wrote I could come up with something that I know will speak to you, will help you, inspire you, make you laugh or go “Ah” in recognition. I know that many times I miss the mark. Writing a blog is kind of like throwing spaghetti on the wall in the nutty notion that if it sticks it’s good to go.

My Brain Still In Vacation

All day long nothing wanted to stick. By now my brain resembles nothing more than a big pot of overcooked macaroni. Why? There could be several reasons. Here are a few:

1. No exercise today. Even on vacation, I managed to move a lot. Since coming home I feel like a slug.

2. The weather bites. Hard. I have not seen the sun in, I don’t know, five days? The forecast is still more clouds and rain until Saturday. Bummer.

3. The ideas that are floating around in my brain are good; the energy to research and write a coherent sentence just isn’t there.

4. Facebook.

5. Going back to work tomorrow required distracting preparation.

As I wrote those reasons above, I realized, once again, I am letting my thinking dictate how I feel. It wasn’t what I was saying but how I was saying it. Time for a reframe!

1. No exercise today? So what? I must have walked a million miles this week. It’s OK to take a day off, especially on a cold, rainy day like today. “You’ll get back on the treadmill tomorrow,” my Authentic Voice assures me. “And if not tomorrow, the next day. You know you will.”

2. The nice thing about living in a temperate climate is that if you don’t like the weather, all you have to do is wait and it will change. Besides, my home and office purposefully have a lot of light and bright color in them to make up for the monochromatic sky.

3. Look who’s writing now! It may not be genius but it’s something. Not nothing!

4. To blame Facebook for one’s procrastination is a cheap shot. It was actually a Facebook friend who helped me get over myself and just write. As another friend said, it’s not the Internet that kills productivity, it’s people who kill productivity.

5. Getting ready to go back to the office tomorrow is a legitimate reason to not be writing. I wouldn’t have it any other way. In my work, my clients come first. My schedule is reviewed, calls and emails are responded to, I communicated with my associate, caught up with my assistant and read progress notes – all of which contributes to a relaxed, ready to focus attitude for my clients.

So who was that who was complaining about a brain still on vacation? Vacation is good. Coming home is good, too.

And I’m back, baby! I’m back!

Elvira G. Aletta, PhD, Founder & CEO

Executive & Personal Coaching, Individual & Relationship Counseling

Life gave Dr. Aletta the opportunity to know what it’s like to hurt physically and emotionally. After an episode of serious depression in her mid-twenties, Dr. Aletta was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease that relapsed throughout her adulthood. While treatable, the cure was often as hard to bear as the disease. Later she was diagnosed with scleroderma, another chronic illness.

Throughout, Dr. Aletta battled with anxiety. Despite all this, Dr. Aletta wants you to know, you can learn to engage in life again on your terms.

Good therapy helped Dr. Aletta. She knows good therapy can help you. That’s why she created Explore What’s Next.

Today Dr. Aletta enjoys mentoring the EWN therapists, focusing on coaching and psychotherapy clients, writing and speaking. She is proud and confident that Explore What’s Next can provide you with therapists who will help you regain a sense of safety, control and joy.

716.634.2600 | draletta@explorewhatsnext.com