Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Why Spiritual Vacations Are More Important Now

By Howie Holben

Life is really full of stress for most of us right now. Financial worries and uncertainties fill our daily lifes. The media makes it worse with continuously depressing reporting.

Stress feels uncomfortable and is painful. Our natural instinct is to avoid anything that is painful. We run away from the pain as fast as we can. In the case of stress, we frequently turn to drugs or alcohol for relief. Escape also comes in the form of a vacation.

We think that a vacation will fix all our ills. We think that after the vacation we will be better able to handle the stresses of life. It's true that a vacation does help by leaving our cares behind for a week or more, but how much does it really help?

Unfortunately, a lot of our "vacation time" is wasted. The beginning of the vacation is spent "getting into vacation" mode. The end of the vacation is spent worrying about going home and all the stuff that is waiting for us to do when we get home. In the middle of the vacation, we do get a chance to relax a little.

When the vacation ends, we have go back to all the things that sent on a vacation in the first place. Nothing has changed at home and we probably didn't gain any tools on the vacation to help handle life's daily stresses. This is why Spirit Journeys is more important now than ever before.

Spirit Journeys' events have the power to change people's lifes. Learning tools and practices to handle stress and being exposed to ways of thinking are just a few of the things that during a Spirit Journeys gay travel adventure. These things are tools that can be used to help make everyday a little easier.

Also, at a Spirit Journeys event we get to meet and connect with people at a level simply not possible on an ordinary gay vacation. We are given the chance to learn new things and hear new ideas from the others in the group. The connections made on a Spirit Journey add immensely to the enjoyment of our time away. To be able to sit and have a real conversation with someone; for us to be listened to with genuine interest; for us to listen to others with our heart; the importance of these things cannot be measured and bring a deep sense of fulfillment. Yes, there is effort involved. We can't just hide in our rooms. We will want to be "present"; we will want to be willing; we will want to be as open and honest as we can be.

We will want these things because we know in our hearts that the process can change us to our core. When we get home from a Spirit Journey, we can have a whole new outlook on life; the stresses of life may no longer have the same power over us as they did before we took our Spirit Journeys adventure.

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