When Your Summer Vacation Doesn’t Have A Happy Ending

Sometimes Doing Nothing Is All You Can Do

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I finally learned how to sit still and do absolutely nothing. It was a hard lesson. I mean, when you go to a party, people ask “what do you do?” They’re really saying “what’s your value? Why should I care about you?”

I get it. We’re all busy with our own concerns. Occasionally someone catches our eye and we think “yeah, that guy looks interesting,” or “hey, that’s the car I want.” Something has value if it serves us, if it meets our needs.

Life is competitive. Even a simple question like “what did you do on your summer vacation?” can make us anxious. Should we admit we just stayed home and went to the lake? Especially if we find out they went skydiving across Europe and met a bunch of celebrities.

My husband and I went on vacation for three weeks, attending family reunions in three different parts of the country. For some idiotic reason, we thought this would be a good idea. On the last leg of our journey, we boarded a plane, exhausted, and grateful we were finally heading home. A good night’s sleep and I’d jump back into work, tackling all those projects I’d put on hold.

Then, I heard a cough from the seat in front of me. It was answered by another cough from the seat behind me…