Any attraction needs a distraction. Without breaks, we will break down.

Resting Heart Rate (RHR) is the rate at which your heart beats when you wake up in the morning, but when you are still in bed. A low RHR indicates that the heart is resting sufficiently between two successive contractions and expansions. A high RHR indicates that the heart does not rest enough between two successive contractions and expansions. So, lower the RHR, the healthier your heart is. The conclusion is that even the heart we sing praises of, for working from womb to tomb, takes enough rest for it to go on and on and on... 

We have a very unfortunate misconception that holidays are only for the rich and the elite, and only for children who haven't yet begun to shoulder the responsibilities of life. We still consider going on holidays an expense. To most people, holidays are nothing more than religious holy days - a declared off from the workplace. 

When the body or mind reaches its threshold, efficiency declines. As much as we take rest at the end of the day to replenish our energy levels, holidays rejuvenate our mind, intellect and emotions and thereby the spirit. 

If at all we do go on a holiday, we exhaust ourselves with seeing seven different places in a day's time. It is plenty of travelling, sightseeing, visiting places of worship and endless shopping. Such holidays, instead of serving as a break, actually break you down. What to say of people who do the same even during their honeymoon! 

Taking family holidays is the best investment one can make to rebuild family ties. Likewise, taking a holiday as an organisation greatly strengthens interpersonal relationships. It provides uninterrupted time with each other and hence reduces the accumulated emotional baggage. It breaks the pattern of routine life which has turned out to be a professional drill for most people. It not only provides recreation, but also re-creates your spirits (the solid one, not the liquid), Leave your mobile phones, laptops and your tight inner garments behind. Dress comfortably during your holiday and forget modelling. Resolve not to call your office till your holiday is through. For heaven's sake, do not go there and start cooking your own food. Treat your tongue to new cuisines. You will come back feeling on 'Top of the World'. You will also realise that the 'World was not on your top' and it went on without you. 

A holiday to unwind... a holiday to break the pattern of thought and work... a holiday to rejuvenate... a holiday to breathe different air... a holiday to look back and to look ahead... a holiday to dedicate yourself completely to the family... a holiday to be a full-time spouse, a full-time parent, and a full-time son... a holiday to free yourself from your labels and designations. 

Any attraction needs a distraction. Holidays are mandatory. Without breaks, we will break down. Do you know that even God to a day off? "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." - Exodus 31:17. 

Get ahead of people. Do not get even with them.

My friend and I recently visited a home for abandoned children. There we spoke to a staff member, who was very affable by nature, about wanting to make a material contribution to the home. He told us that we would have to discuss that with one of their social workers who was in charge of receiving contributions. While we were waiting, a lady walked in. In a tone so arrogant that it would have made Adolph Hitler turn in his grave, she said, "Oh, you people want to make a contribution! Give me 500 kilograms of rice... I only want that now. I am not interested in taking anything else. Of course, if you people can't afford it, then give me 5 kilograms of rice... but I want rice and nothing else. I am leaving." No courtesy, no pleasantness, no smile... She just walked in, did some verbal vomiting and walked out. "She is in charge of receiving contributions!? God save the children of the home," I thought to myself. 

My friend and I did not speak for quite some time... we were still reeling from that experience of utter disrespect and disregard. Later I told my friend, "Let's give them the 500 kilograms of rice. We want to make a difference to the children, not to the lady. Let her behaviour not stand as a wall between our hearts and the children's stomachs." 

When you are recovering from an illness, doctors say, "You are responding to the medicine." If your health deteriorates, doctors say, "The medicine is reacting on you." Response is positive; reaction is negative. Let us never react to any situation in life, but instead choose our response. Let our behaviour not be instigated by forces from outside, but be born out of an internal value-based choice. Let not some man or woman in the world outside parade over our inherent goodness. 

How the world behaves is none of our business. The greatest pride is in rising in your own eyes. How much ever you are tested, wherever you go, whatever you do... live your character. Let the limitations of other people not limit us. 'Someone is wrong' isn't an excuse for us to be wrong. Wrong as a response to wrong isn't the way. Let us not trade our goodness. At every opportunity, let us get ahead of people and not get even with them.