The weekend retreat I just came back from was a drag. All we did was eat, listen to some presentations (kept short and done with humor), hear some questions to think about, eat, be sent out to think or talk about those questions, wander the grounds of beautiful El Retiro Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos, eat, watch the long-overdue rain mixed with glorious rainbows and shifting clouds, meet new people and get to know old friends better, eat, meditate/pray, and have two restful night’s sleep. It was all so…calm. It dragged me down…down to the place where I could relax and slow down for three days. It caused me to remember that there’s more to me than just what I manage to get done during any given day.
If you’ve never been on a retreat, I highly recommend you go. I’m NOT talking about the typical corporate “retreat,” where you drink too much, play uncomfortable games in the name of “team building,” and carry on business while pretending not to. Find a retreat, religious or not, where you can take some time to be with the person you are inside. Take some deep breaths. Participate in the discussions and activities, if that’s what you feel like doing. Leave behind the tension, rush, pressure, responsibilities, and expectations (from you and from others). Take what you need from the retreat, and carry it back home with you. As you ease back into THE WORLD, keep the retreat experience in your mind, available to be recalled and relived when you realize that you’re being dragged down rather than up.