Wherever you go, every time you turn on the television, you find reminders that "These are troubled times." What good are these messages?



The number one remedy: Take a vacation.

If you wander around, you'll see that stores are still open, and people are still going about their daily routines. And that's how it should be. Part of the routine must include travel

We may not be able to do much about how the powers that be handle the economy. But we do have control over how we react. Just because some leaders have said there is an economic crisis does not mean we all should have a personal crisis.

The best reactions to an economic crisis are either:

1. Find ways to make more money, or

2. Take a vacation, or

3. Both

It isn't for me to show you how to make more money. I can tell you why having a holiday is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family:

Think of it like this: A vacation is a short retreat from routine. Whether you have a great job or a dull existence, everybody gets stuck in daily and weekly routines.

A vacation takes away stress. That is the greatest value of a vacation. Stress is the leading cause of all illnesses; mental illness as well as physical illness. When you remove stress, you become healthier.

Researchers have found that workers become more productive after a vacation. Not only laborers, but also managers, executives, and creative professionals notice a surge in productivity after a holiday.

The reason can be seen as a relationship between stress and health. The more stress you're under, the less healthy you feel. The less stressed you are the better you feel. The better you feel, the better your work.

There may, indeed, be difficult times ahead, due to the economy and world problems. They should not keep us from travel

The worse thing that we can do is allow these difficulties to cause us undue stress. Stress will only make things worse; worse for our emotional and physical health. And worse still for our financial health.

The best thing we can do is go on break. Get away for a while. Improve our health by removing anxieties from our lives for a while. Then we can return to our routines healthier and more productive people.

Everyone on this planet ought to take a vacation together. That would not only calm everybody down, it might solve all the world's problems.

Travel for health, for the health of your family, and for the good of your country and the world.