Stress Management Lessons from Dad: Taking Instant Mental Holidays

Lessons from my father.

Dad was a master at stress management and would often counsel: “Work as hard as you wish – hard work never killed anyone. It’s stress that kills you. The trick is to figure out a way to work hard, without stress.”
Whenever I asked him how he managed stress, dad would say it’s a very individual thing, but he would also often point to his head: “It’s all in your mind.”

One of the mind hacks dad taught me was how to take 5-minute “mental holidays” during the day or night, as a way of busting stress bubbles as they emerged.
“Holidays are not a place you go to with your body, they are places you visit in your mind”, he would say. “You can have a holiday at any time, anywhere. Just focus on a place or a person you love, and go there in your mind. You can have an instant holiday.”

It’s a sentiment beautifully captured by James Taylor in his song, Carolina In My Mind:

“In my mind, I’m gone to Carolina Can’t you see the sunshine?
Can’t you just feel the moon shining? Ain’t it just like a friend of mine
To hit me from behind?
Yes, I’m gone to Carolina in my mind.”

Are you visiting “your Carolina” often enough in your mind?