Exactly one week ago, I was getting ready for our trip to Minneapolis.  It’s hard to believe how much stuff I did in the past seven days.  It also seems so amazing to me that we traveled to the Northern Mid-West and back to the Pacific Coast within a week.  It took months for the pioneers in covered wagons to cross the same terrain that we did.  But actually, when I stop to think about it, that in itself is really even more amazing.

I went back to work at the prison today and it was completely business as usual.  Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with any last-minute urgent referrals, emergencies, or difficult patients.  I did stay at my office until 6 PM, trying to finish the day’s progress notes and treatment plans and suicide risk evaluations.  When it got to be 6:00, I knew I had to pack it up.  Even though I cared about getting the job done, I also knew that the emotionally healthy thing to do was to go home and put the day behind me.

That’s another nice thing about taking vacations.  It helps to give you perspective on priorities and what really matters in life.