The preparation of being alone

Recently I have been talking to people about how the re-energize and get themselves back in form. It’s a great conversation starter.

What my "bar" research is showing me, is that people do this, in two ways. They either spend their time with their favourite people, doing their favourite things, or they draw back from society, and recluse for a few hours or days.

What’s funny about the two camps of people, is that either side, finds the other ideas most unpleasant, if they are looking for regeneration.

So for me, I am definitely the type to go amongst the people, most likely selecting more intimate settings versus larger groups, so as to have a good chat.

A weekend checked into a Spa ON MY OWN would be my version of hell. Despite all the pampering, I reckon I would be asking newly married couples, if I could join them for dinner, just to gain human interaction. I may even end up asking the reception if I could do one of her shifts, just to kill the time.

So this week, my family has gone to stay with grandma and grandpa, which is a fantastic way to start the Summer holidays. I was out travelling during the week, so I didn’t really notice they had gone, but then came the weekend came and they were not there. This was THE WEEKEND ALONE!!!

Knowing myself well, I began preparing for this solitary occasion, a few weeks in advance.

I polled my friends,on what they would do, and got inspired with many ideas. Some really appealing, others less so.

However I decided not to overdo it. My usual reaction would be, to fill my time full of events and meets and end up being exhausted and stressed and having had no down time.

Instead, I compiled a list of my favourite things to do, possibly considering things I would not normally get round to doing, in a usual weekend, here is what I ended up with:

1. nice yummy and healthy food
2. bit of exercise
3. lots of reading
4. even more TV
5. something I don’t get the time to do
6. meet with someone I wouldn’t normally
7. a treat

So as you can see from”Shredding Ginger”, I did 1.

For number 2, I went to the outdoor pool to do lengths, taking my new book “Cutting Stone” that ticked number 3 aswell.  Plenty of telly in the evenings, got number 4 done. I squeezed in a pedicure, that would be number 7,  I baked a baguette, that’s number 5,  and then on Sunday morning I met up with a newly made friend for brunch. Hurrah thats number 6, the last one ticked off!!!

It was quite a tremendous weekend.

In addition I cleaned the girl's rooms, polished my winter boots, did the laudry, cleared the surfaces of stuff (big job) and started packing for next weeks holiday.

I am feeling extrememy proud of myself and wait for it.............completely re-energized.

So there you go, I was able to switch to the other side a bit. I survived beautifully well on my own (with a little exception of brunch with a friend!)

So when are you next spending time recharging the batteries??

BBB says get it in the diary!