Hidden beliefs which hinder....

My husband told me this week that he had planned a romantic trip to Pairs for the 2 of us. He had wanted it to be a surprise but didn't think that that was achievable and so told me well in advance. He has arranged for his Mother to look after our 3 young children for 3 nights and the trip is scheduled for sometime in October. My initial reaction was curiously mixed. Overtly thankful but internally worrying already about a whole host of things - will Mother in Law cope (children are 4, 3, and 1 and she has not often looked after them for a night let alone 3), will my studies suffer, can I justify a holiday for just us? We later discussed the trip and I found myself voicing a number of alternative ideas - walking in the UK, cycling in the UK. Then I found myself bringing up a lot of objections, such as the initial concerns cited above. Husband tried to be understanding but was understandably somewhat frustrated and somewhat bewildered. After all, I had mentioned a few times recently how I would love to go to Paris, and how I would love a few days off from the kids ( I look after them full time). So why was I not jumping with joy? I have been considering this in light of some of the things that I have been studying within my coaching course. Perhaps I have some hidden beliefs, that is to say some subconscious beliefs that have been built up over time, that are preventing me from being present and being truly happy about the prospect of a few days away. So what could those beliefs be and are they indeed true? Perhaps one would be that it would be taking advantage of my Mother in law coupled with the concern that she couldn't cope. If I truly think about this I know that neither point is true. We do not take advantage and she freely offered to look after the children. Perhaps another is that I am slacking if I am not constantly looking after the children. This again should not be considered true. Everyone deserves a break from their routine now and then and it often refreshes and helps you perform better at your usual duties when you return. Perhaps another is that I don't "deserve" to have fun/reward. This is an underlying theme with me and something I need to dig deeper on to get to the bottom of, but I shouldn't let it prevent me enjoying a few days away. So a little digging and honesty reveals that the objections coming up are not really justified. If I am left in any doubt about whether to throw myself whole heartedly into the trip without feelings of guilt, I need only to consider my 3 key priorities in life. My family, my marriage, and my career/self development. Are any of them negatively or positively affected by the plan? My children won't suffer if I am away for a few days, on the contrary they will enjoy Grandparents' indulgence, and it will probably do them good to realise that Mummy and Daddy have a life outside of them! My career won't be affected as we are only talking about a few days and so I can fit my studies around it. Then there is my marriage, I haven't done much to really work on that recently so actually a few days away like this is probably much needed and important when it comes to supporting my priorities in life. Hidden beliefs can affect our decision making process and also the feelings we have when we do certain things, they can limit our success and it is worth doing a little reflection now and then to see if we have any and whether they are in fact true. If they are not, we can dispel them and in the process are more likely to enjoy or succeed in what we are setting out to do.