Sometimes It's Good to Take a Break...

Modern life is so very often dominated by routine and ritual, the little things in life that make the cogs keep turning and make everything seem normal. Without a ritual, routine or pattern in our life, a little comfort nest of the expected, we worry. We panic, we doubt ourselves, and that doubt manifests itself upon those you meet. Your relationships, your family, your friends and the strangers you share a bubble with on the tube or sidewalk all feel it, a difference, a negative difference. A disorder, a frantic unknown that drives you crazy yet you don’t know why. It’s a blank canvas without a starting line or a starting thought.

Sometimes, you need to force a break unto yourself to avoid these blips of chaos, to realise the beauty of your own worth and to value the everyday commodities you subliminally love. To treasure what is there for you, and the stuff that maybe isn’t there, to realise that what you have shapes who you are and who you become – and you, right now, are perfect.

Sometimes, it’s good to take a break from it all. Sometimes, it’s good to step away from the news-desk and stop writing stories. Sometimes, it’s better to focus on your own life, rather than shining the brightest of spotlights onto a million other people, for another million to read. Sometimes, it’s nice to see the beauty of the everyday as a story in itself, the serenity of birds calling and the harmony of the spring flowers. Sometimes, it’s better to stay away from the negativity the world throws at you, just for you to hand it to someone else.

Sometimes, it’s good to take a break from relationships, to take a pause and reflect on how they affect you. To think and to act the way you should, not the way you’re expected to act; to experience a freedom and carelessness that not many experience, and to love the world with unconditional affection without the fear of wrongdoing. Sometimes, it’s better to step away from the person you love, because you know it will hurt them down the line. Because you recognise the sacrifice now, to save a future. You know things aren’t perfect, and you have the bravery to acknowledge that - to stand up for yourself and for them, and to cut the negativity out of your life before it manifests itself like the worst poison ivy. You know to drag the weed out, before it spreads, and you know that the bullet left inside only causes more harm.

Sometimes, it’s good for us writers and content creators to take a break, to regather our thoughts and our ideas, and to view ourselves in a way we so often reject. To value the work we’ve produced, and to reflect on how to better ourselves, without the pressure of doing so there and then. Sometimes, we need some time to realise our own worth and our own contributions, and to recognise our vitality in the wider picture of the world. We create and we create, and we create some more, but it often involves chipping away pieces of ourselves, like a fine Greek statue decaying by the corner, reeling into itself in an archaic disease. But, sometimes, it’s good to take a break, to glue those pieces back to ourselves, and to improve. To grow and to learn, to develop and to better. Because in the end, whilst our audiences may not know what may have happened, or criticise us for disappearing, we know all too well the improvements we’ve made – no little how quiet the shout seems to be.

Sometimes, a period of selfishness and self-inclusion can create a world of change, and shape who we are becoming. It can give us the respite we need to tackle another day, and the experience of oneness and inner peace that can provide us the strength to fight any obstacle and any disbeliever. A little break, in moderation and in preparation, can go a long way to shaping, improving and modelling a person into a far better image – a benefit to be felt by the many.

My break taught me a lot about myself, and how to push for things I never thought possible. A cliché, yes, but a reality nonetheless. The lesson here is to push for what your heart desires and for what your brain knows to be true, because a break you take could change your life forever.