Escapism

You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends. At times you'll feel trapped among strangers whereas they're your own flesh and blood. There will be times when you can't figure out a way out of the problems in the office or with the neighbor. Perhaps, some mornings you wake up and wish that you're someone else or living another life. Sometimes you even wish that everyone you dislike would disappear and replaced with nicer people. There are also moments when you wish you could trade with another woman's (or man's) shoes.

Sadly, we won't get to do those things. Life is not a fairytale or a badly written Hollywood spoof movie. However, it's still okay to escape once in a while. Even three hours a week should be sufficient.

Some people go as far as an island far far away from home, leaving everybody and everything behind for a few days. Some won't even have this luxury, but we can always spend a few hours at the movies with some close friends or alone, it doesn't really matter. As long as we can take our thought off of all those depressing things at home or office. I found talking silly with close friends helped a lot when I need to de-stress. Pampering ourselves is another good option to keep our sanity checked.

Escape doesn't mean running away. Escape is just a way of gathering thoughts or clearing the mind before evaluating problem solutions. Some problems don't have any solution, we just let some wounds heal through time. Escape could mean meeting new people with fresh or intriguing ideas (or easier on the eyes). When we get to know new friends, we'll go through a process to discover ourselves all over again and later we'll be able to look at things from a different perspective.

So, the next time you face a very challenging problem or stuck in a difficult situation it's okay to escape for a while. It's okay to tell the people around you that you need some time for yourself before you could come up with something solid. It's even okay to buy some time after someone apologizes. It's good to forgive but a deferred forgiveness works wonders on a relationship.

Dear women all over the world, escapism is an important word in our dictionary. Don't know where to start? Try reading chick-lit, watching chick-flicks or pay a visit to the national arts gallery.