Spring Break

As the month of Spring Break is coming to an end, I watch the shenanigans repeat themselves again this year.  I wonder about the benefit and advantage of taking such a break.  Is Spring Break an opportunity or disruption?  Does Spring Break deliver something that propels us into the future with something good or is it a break that is truly broken by delusional thinking and blind to stupidity and ignorance?

I think of Spring Break as a strategic design.  It has a far reaching history that will not be addressed here.  Spring Break was a concept that seemed like a great idea at its conception.  Spring invites the celebration that winter is over.  Spring is a time that invites us into new beginnings and is an awakening of all sorts.  Taking a break sounds like a good idea as a way to take a breather, maybe try something new and prepare for what lies ahead.

For some families, Spring Break could be a time “to get away”.  It could be a time for togetherness that is in-line with the expectations of Summer Vacation.   Spring Break could be a time for schedules to be ruffled and monotony broken.  Spring Break could be a time college students could come home and celebrate in their homecoming with discussion of their experiences and share their progression.  Spring Break could be a time to rest, reorganize, catch up and prepare for the home stretch of the school year or the future plans that lie ahead.

Yet in my observation, Spring Break has become a destination that left responsibility and reasoning at home.  First, I noticed warm areas of the country are targeted.  I grew up in the Midwest.  Florida was the bullseye for road trips and direct flights.  I made my home in Colorado and the common destination is southward bound to Arizona and Mexico.

I barely remember Spring Break in my youth.  Any break in my schedule whether it was due to weather like snow days or teacher’s institute time-off provided me with less supervision and parental responsiveness.  I was the youngest of a working family.  Both my parents worked in order to provide for a sufficient lifestyle.  Spring Break was a time for temptations to surface and accountabilities to be set aside.  How much of this has changed?

Temptations are nothing more than a desire, urge or choice of fluctuating attractions.  Temptations are generally referred to as that nibbling thing that pleads for attention, that manipulates acceptance, and that coaxes us into action when we know we shouldn’t.  Temptations can seem ever-present based on the company we keep or our surrounding environment.  Temptations can manifest gradually or seem to suddenly appear by something eating away at our thoughts.

Temptations point out distinct differences.  They display straightforward comparisons to anyone willing to stand back and observe.  They are an obvious substitution for correct course of action by playing on one’s sense of risk, jeopardizing one’s safety and tantalizing with one’s principles.  Temptations are the “sounded like a good idea at the time” responses after the ramifications are fully revealed.

Temptations mislead our desires with a repeated pouring over of preoccupied thoughts and inaccuracies.  They are an invasion on our idea of independence.  Temptations are the misguided actions that we make when we think our own best decisions are based on our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors without the consideration of our conscience, principles, morals or ethics.  Temptations hide under the umbrella of curiosity as if knowledge and wisdom can only be acquired through one’s own experience.  Temptations disregard any element of good judgment.  Instead temptations are lured in with the bait of curiosity and senselessness disguised as whatever it is might actually be good.

We all need a break.  Breaks allow us to regroup, recoup, recondition and restore what is in us that has worn thin or ran out.  Breaks provide the chance to unwind, unravel, chill out and calm from the everyday stresses of our lives.  Breaks can be the invitation to replenish without the intrusion of ignorance and temptation.   Let your breaks have purpose without frivolous ideas of tantalizing stupidity.   Let the next break taken whether it is a moment of reflection during your day or a planned extended vacation be one of prosperity, worth, and treasured memory.