Health for the mind and soul.

Day 6 - 31 Day Challenge
(To read series from beginning click HERE.)

Health is not just a physical issue.  In order to improve physical health, one must reduce stress and emotional turmoil. One must also increase laughter, peace, and confidence.  To me, these are emotional and mental issues, which have direct influences on physical health.

In order to reduce stress, one must get away from the daily rat race from time to time.  While weekends are a great way to escape from work for a few days to get caught up on chores at home, there are times when more than two days break is required.

In another post in this series, I will talk about taking time for yourself, by yourself.  This post is about a family escape.  Not only will this escape refresh my tired mental state, I will be able to look at history lessons during homeschool with a little less stress and struggle.  This get away will also strengthen the health and bond of our family.

We decided to grab one last opportunity this year to go camping.  October is a great season to get outside and enjoy relaxing in nature. Trees are changing their summer green attire for the festive fall dresses of red, orange, and yellow.  The air is crisp and energizing, not freezing nor sweltering.  We are heading out on this sunny, cool day for a four day camping trip to Gettysburg,PA.

My fabulous husband took time off work for this wonderful field trip.  The boys had been wanting to visit a battlefield and this fits into a requirement for Pennsylvania history as well as US history for our homeschool. So we took this moment and off we went.

We love camping. What adventurous boy (no matter his age) doesn't like fire and cooking meat on sticks?  I looked up campgrounds, made a reservation, and made packing lists.  Once the packing was complete, I was all set to relax and enjoy our drive.  Meals were reduced to breakfast at camp and lunch and dinners while touring.  My books were loaded on to my iPad and I was set.

I type this as we drive.  The boys happily ride in the back while we listen to an auto tour of Gettysburg cd a friend loaned to us.  My hubby is behind then wheel. The stress of work has been left at the office and at home. This physical break from routine is a mental break as well. We have plans of things to do, but none of those activities are tied to a specific time.  We will get up without alarms and "ooze" into the day, as my youngest likes to say. We will visit the battlefield, investigate museums, and stroll through the historical parks. In the next few days I'm sure there will be laughter, learning, and lots of bonding time around the fire. There will not be stress of schedules or routines.

I'm reducing my stress and with all the walking we will be doing at all the tourist sights, I'll be working on my physical health too.  What are you going to do today to improve your health?
Let's do this!