| « |
Summertime & The Living Is Easy |
« |
|
We, New Englanders have so many expectations and anticipation with the arrival of summer. We look and long for it all winter long. When it finally arrives, though, many of us don’t do anything with it and with Fall comes disappointment. I had a client last summer who was feeling down midway through the summer. She had been so looking forward to summer but now that it was here, every weekend was the same as any other weekend in any other season. We get so caught up in our lives that we truly forget to stop and smell the roses, literally. I asked her to fantasize about what a fun summer would look like. We pretended she was in school again and it had just let out for the summer and she had 2 and half whole months to have fun. I took her back to many years ago and asked her to remember her most memorable summer and what was wonderful about it. She said that she was 12 and she spent the whole summer giggling with her best friend, exploring new and exciting things, getting lost in her favorite Trixie Belden book while pretending she was Trixie and the carefreeness she felt. We made a plan that she would spend more time with her girlfriends and not talk about serious topics. As we progress into adulthood our conversations often turn to not so fun topics. Laundry detergent, kids, husbands, all the stress we are under and how under appreciated we are, how we would love some time to ourselves. How often do we giggle or belly ache laugh anymore? When did we lose our funny bones? Tell your friends that you want to spend a day together and not talk about serious stuff but make it a challenge to find fun and silly things to talk about. I also sent this client to the library to get some Beach books. My favorite, and is now hers, is Janet Evanovich’s Stepahine Plum series. It is silly, funny, outrageous, ridiculous and a great way to have pure and simple fun. Talk about pretending you are someone, I can relate to this character in so many ways I almost don’t need to pretend! I actually laugh out loud when I read this book. I can be sitting in my back yard and feel like I am somewhere else. As for new and exciting, I told this client to take one day with or without the kids and explore somewhere new. Last summer she went to Frye Island with a friend of a friend, something that she would normally not do, and had a ball. She had never been there before but explored the island on a go-cart, swam at a private beach, stayed up late sipping wine on the beach and giggling and fantasizing about things she would love to do and some fun things she had done in the past. She felt carefree even if it was just for the weekend.
This
woman had the best summer she had had in years. With
just a little planning and little effort you can
have a fun and memorable summer. Think about what
would make you feel fulfilled. Is it spending time
with your family just having fun? Could it be
laughing like a 12 year old again and feeling free?
Whatever it is, find ways to incorporate them into
your life. Make it a priority that this will be your
best summer ever. Most people think this has to be a
huge deal. They think expensive vacations, time off
from work, more stress than it’s worth. It can be as
simple as having a picnic in the backyard instead of
at the dinner table or having ice cream sundaes for
dinner. It can be letting the house stay a mess and
getting in the car and going to the beach for the
day or heading up to the mountains. Put up a tent in
your yard and tell ghost stories and sleep out. Get
creative and have some fun! I always tell Moms who
feel guilty about this, I guarantee if you have a
fun summer, your family will too. |
||
