Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Is There a Clean Tee-Shirt in This House?

It's a very easy thing to do; stay in your house. Especially when the weather is hot and humid outside and you don't feel like you live in New York City anymore but rather the rain forest in a South American country. Personally, this kind of weather makes me want to become one with my couch, soak up the air conditioning in my living room and eat a lot of ice cream.

If you're anything like me in this situation, you create excuses not to leave the house. I can't find a clean tee-shirt therefore I must stay in today! Plus, it's overwhelming to try to leave the house with a baby in tow. You need to compile a bag of supplies to make sure your child is satisfied both physically and emotionally for the duration of the time that you are in the outside world. It can be a daunting task.


On the other hand, I once had a therapist who gave me these wise words of advice: "When in doubt don't bail out!" Meaning, if you have plans to do something or go somewhere, and you are considering canceling those plans for an arbitrary reason to stay home, DON'T. Force yourself to leave the house. Go out!

Why go out? Why not! If you stay in, the day will be predictable. You'll watch a lot of TV, go a lot stir crazy, and by the end of the day you'll feel worse. But if you go out, the possibilities expand.

Even if you visit familiar haunts, you may meet new people, find a new spot in the park that you didn't even know existed and by the end of the day you will have given yourself three important gifts: surroundings that are not the four walls of your apartment, fresh air and a little sanity.

So if you are debating whether or not to get out of the house, do it! Go out there and take a walk with your child. Even if it's around the block, even if you have no destination in mind. Your mind and your body will thank you for it.

6 comments:

  1. You are so right! I decided I don't mind sweating anymore. But I do mind burning. Lots of sunblock!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sun block is a must! Yay for outside!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am very fair-skinned and when I was a kid, there was no sun block, so I got SUPER burned AT LEAST once EVERY summer. I don't know which will get me first - the skin cancer or respiratory problems from 9/11. But I digress.

    "When in doubt, don't bail out" is GREAT advice! I may make it my new mantra!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seriously! These words of wisdom have really stuck with me throughout the years. They are so simple, but so true! There have been many events that I could have potentially missed out on had I not followed the words of this wise man.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was very inspired ny this blog. I was feeling ambivalent about going to Fire Island for a few days. I did go and my ambivlence blew away.
    I had a great time.

    ReplyDelete

What do you think? Feel free to agree or disagree, but hateful comments will be deleted.