Take a Break

I didn’t know how much I needed a break until I grew grumpy. My usual ability to cope was stretched as taught as a rubber band holding too many papers. Exhaustion overwhelmed me at times. Then I got sick with bronchitis. In the summertime.

When you are overwhelmed with life, not only is it difficult to write your stories but sickness can rear its ugly head at any time of the year.

I stopped and took inventory of my past several months. It was a bit on the scary side: My husband’s stroke and months of rehab, my granddaughter’s diagnosis of cancer in her foot, my sister’s illness, moving out of state … The stressors were numerous and more than just a little daunting.

While things have improved for the most part, there are residual difficulties such as my granddaughter needing a prosthesis for her foot amputation and my husband still dealing with memory issues. I am struggling with now being the sole driver in our empty nest household. It’s not a situation I ever imagined.

In the midst of all this anxiety, my older son extended an invitation to come and stay for a week. I would help them out with childcare for the triplets while their mom and dad worked. Although some might see that as more work for me, it has been a refresher visiting with my out-of-state grands and my son and DIL who I rarely see. While I am not sitting doing nothing, it is a change from my normal and sometimes angst-filled routines. It has been a gift from the Lord through my son.

I could have found excuses not to go on this respite but I knew I needed it. Anyone who carries the load at home needs it for peace and renewal before the rubber band of anxiety snaps from the pressure.

So I set up everything for my husband to help him manage on his own. Our younger son and my husband’s sister are nearby in case of emergency. Then I boarded the flight, knowing this was going to be the refreshment for my soul and body that I needed.

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by our responsibilities that we often forget to take care of our own needs. It is a choice. We can make ourselves indispensable in our stress, or we can find coverage for all the needs around us. We all need to take a healthy break at times.

With a clearer head and renewed enthusiasm, I look forward to facing the blank Word doc again, and creating my next novel. After this rest.

Then I can happily … carry on.

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that recently released: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. Scarred Vessels, a novel about black soldiers in the American Revolution, will release in 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com