Taking a Step back...

I am on a 3 month leave of absence from work currently. On the surface, the leave is for traveling. We have been to Hawaii for a week to attend a wedding, and we were in the east coast for a week visiting family and friends (fortunate enough to also enjoy the awesome fall colors!). We are in Singapore now, heading to India next to visit family, ....our journey is really just starting!
I think at a deeper level, we wanted to take a leave , to take a step back. Step back from our busy lives. We have so many ideas and thoughts about how we want to live, but its hard to implement anything when we are living life at 100mph! We wanted to just stop and think, see the big picture. I think of when I look at a large painting from up close and only see a part of it clearly, but when I take a step back, I am able to see the entire piece and judge it more accurately. But then the question is , how do we get anything real from taking this leave? It is so easy to get pulled into another routine, become sight-seeing robots:)

It has been great not working, not having to worry about deadlines or projects, or have that constant stressed out feeling. Yet, it has also reminded me that its not that I don't like or want to work, its just that I don't want to loose myself in my work so much that it consumes me and I forget to live. Only after 3 weeks off did I completely unwind, and found myself again, its weird, like layers of stress had just been mounting, without me even noticing!

The key I think is to stay conscious of these little shifts and realizations, and not to loose sight of the real reason for taking this leave... to take a step back:)