Taking sufficient breaks gives our bodies an opportunity to let go of tension, fatigue and repair itself. When we allow ourselves to rest and restore, while letting go of our thoughts and duties, we find that we feel healthier and more at peace. While our many obligations may compel us to battle ahead, our health and well-being depends on our willingness to listen to our body’s cues to slow down, relax and take breaks. Even taking short breaks in between tasks and spending time in solitude or engaging in an activity that we enjoy can help release any tension we may experience because of our busy schedule.

Building regular breaks into our day is the key to enjoying a healthy and happy life. These breaks can be as simple as closing our eyes and deeply breathing before we get out of the car or at at stop light or telling our family that we need several minutes to decompress when we walk in the door. Sometimes a moment to listen to music or meditate can be just what we need to let go and release anything we are holding onto from our day.

Consider making today the start of a new healthy habit of taking frequent short breaks throughout the day and extended ones to give yourself a chance to unwind, decompress, and just be.

The pelican’s sudden appearance is an inspiration, a sign of courage and trust in its journey and in my own. I watch it glide through the water effortlessly even though it carries a massive weight. Although unfamiliar to its environment, it has already found a flow and space for itself among the waterfowl already present on the lake.

I observe how the pelican spreads its wings and stretches all the time. It pays little attention to the fact that it’s the only bird like itself on the lake. It moves in a natural and fluid movement without asking permission to swim that far and that fast. In its short-lived time on the lake, the pelican expresses itself no matter where it happens to be.

There is much that I can transform in my own life as I observe the wondrous journey of the pelican. I see the trust it has in changing course instead of flying directly south on the same path as always. It has shifted course, changed direction and has broken the typical pattern it has followed for years. Like the pelican, I see that I too can shift course, change direction and break with patterns. I can stretch in the direction I feel inspired without always stopping to check for approval. I can create my own slipstream that opens me to embrace all that is in my wake and propels me forward to follow my heart.

The pelican may stay for a few weeks, a month or a year-time doesn’t matter in this particular moment of its life. To the pelican, it’s just a tiny stopover, a momentary pause to enjoy the scenery and then let go and move on. I too, can live every moment of my life as a stopover, a juncture, an intersection on my soul’s journey that I enjoy for the moment and let go of into the next.