Mental Health Break: Look Outside

I need to get ahold of my hubby’s cd of pics from Alaska (he has a lot). But don’t you just love autumn? It’s not quite here yet officially, but already, the sun hits the trees differently, the smell of the season change is in the air, and I’m crunching through leaves already dropping from the tree that overhangs my front porch.

It’s time for a Mariners game, perfect weather, a bit brisk, especially up high in the nosebleed section (the Yankees are coming to town this weekend, so we are so there). Last weekend was the annual Coburg Antique Fair and it was brisk out early in the morning as we perused the different vendor stalls. I made out like a bandit (used burlap feed sacks for a dollar each, for pillows, to recover multiple ottomans; I’m mad about burlap this year). But we weren’t buying a lot. We did a lot of picking and choosing. Our favorite vendor wasn’t there as she’s started her own shop, so now we’re making plans to visit on my next trip to Oregon.

Kids out in the culdesac playing baseball after school while others sit on the lawn next to each other reading their schoolbooks aloud to each other. The beach is still a soothing place, before the rains start. I sit on the pier and watch the boats launch and then wait to see other boats come back in from their fishing trip. The sound of the waves on the pebbles at Redondo Beach soothes me as we walk the boardwalk one end of the beach to the other. I walk hand in hand with my hubby, happy, content, feeling so much joy that I feel as if my heart will burst wide open.

This is how I stop, how I rest, how I bring my stress levels down to zero. Outside, enjoying what’s around me, feeling secure that if God loves all this beauty so very much, how much more does He love and care for me?

Tagged as: mental health break, outside, rest