Several years ago, I faced significant changes in my life and decided that I should just escape for a week, give myself a break, you know? I booked myself a flight to Denver and then a small hopper flight to Steamboat Springs, where I stayed at a ski lodge for five days. I don’t ski and I had never been to Steamboat Springs. Why would I go somewhere I had never been, away from everything I knew and loved?

I think it was the anonymity that appealed to me. The just showing up with three books in tow and planting my butt in a comfy chair by a roaring fireplace twice the size of me. No one I knew had been there before; it was my escape. Every day, I watched skiers and snowboarders race down several hills that dropped right in front of the humongous picture window where I spent my days. I slept in, read books, and ordered quesadillas and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps for lunch - everyday.

No one questioned me or wondered why I was alone. I was just thankful to have some time to re-group and re-focus before I faced the major changes ahead of me: my father’s death, my impending divorce and a job change. Stressed? You could say so. Life in the quiet – that’s what I called my time in Steamboat Springs. Sometimes, you just have to take or make the time in order to instigate a recovery, of sorts.

At different times in our lives we are the skiers, taking familiar trails, using poles for stability. Other times we are the snowboarders, daringly plowing our way down an unfamiliar path, seemingly fearless and ready for adventure. Then there are the days when you simply sit back and watch the worker bees and the adventurers as they attack life, take risks, and jump on the business opportunities that line their way. Taking a break assists in maintaining balance that many claim to have down pat.