Lessons learned sitting creekside in Sedona

I know this is supposed to be a Perfect Moment. Sitting next to the creek in Sedona, Arizona, sipping a coffee with nowhere else I have to be.

We went up to Sedona last week and stayed three nights at a wonderful place.

L'Auberge de Sedona was rustic, woodsy and luxurious all at the same time. It is a high-class spot without being pretentious.... well not too pretentious.

Sue and I were celebrating my birthday. And the end of summer. The final days before school starts. We were taking a few days off before life and work gears up again.

I know we try to blog here primarily about noticing Perfect Moments rather than creating them.

Even though vacations are designed to create Perfect Moments, in my experience they are often full of high expectations that they rarely meet.

But our little mini-vacation in Sedona was just perfect.

My goal was to unplug, not check work e-mail, try to keep off Twitter, have at least one expensive foodie meal, read a book from start to finish, and go for my birthday run.

Every year for the last 20 or so years, at some point during the few days around my birthday, I've gone on a celebration run for as many minutes as years I've been alive. Yes! My birthday run gets longer and slower and more meaningful every year.

This spectacular view is from my birthday run.

I met all my goals for our 3-day vacation. And I've been trying to figure out what made this different from other vacations.

I think it was a bunch of things, an awesome location, fantastic views, linens with a super-high thread count. Suzie by my side.

But what made it different? What made it perfectly relaxing? Maybe setting my expectation beforehand. I had clear goals that were about relaxing, pampering and celebrating.

Yeah. I think that's it. Setting clear goals .. and sticking to them.. helped make this the perfect mini-vacation.

Now back to work tomorrow. First thing in the morning: I'm going to set some clear goals for the week.


Robin, Tempe