Like many of you we had been living at "life speed," barely having time for ourselves, our child or creativity. For many years we enjoyed this California lifestyle and even thrived on it. But the day came when we finally said, "Life is no longer working."

A major shift to living healthy and with joy is to live in the present moment. EASIER SAID THAN DONE!!!  Living in the present brings total joy and at the same time is extremely difficult. One minute you have it and then it is gone. Our mind wanders and our thoughts move away from the NOW to the past or the future.

Over the past couple of years we have been purposefully practicing living in the NOW with some gains and many setbacks. What we have learned is the more we push, force, and persist, the more resistance we get, small or big.

Ever since I was a kid we would clean out our closets. In most cases it had to do with the fact that we had outgrown our clothes. As an adult, however, we tend to keep, hoard, cherish, and stow away for that one day we need that shimmery slinky dress. I've come to a new appreciation of what it means to get rid of closet clutter and that came from our experience living in France when there were no closets. So without closets the big decisions on what to keep, toss, giveaway, sell, or stuff away becomes even more challenging. Read the story for a good chuckle on cleaning a closet when there are none and learning the rule of simplification.

Use this checklist to plan your time-off.  Anything is possible if you believe, you plan, and you are open to surprises.