Last week we talked about how we can slow summer down by doing less of everything, but more of what we really enjoy.
And I promised I’d share more about why that can be really tricky to pull off.
As we already established last week, the season of summer has limitless options for activities and when our calendar is overstuffed, we don’t have time to enjoy the fun stuff.
The solution to that problem has nothing to do with deciding what activities you want to do (deep down, you know already).
But it’s not easy to slow summer down, even when we know what we want to do.
It’s a challenge to create more fun because we fail to prioritize ourselves.
How do I know?
Because it’s a lesson I keep re-learning!
And because prioritizing what matters most is something I work with my clients on.
All. The. Time.
It’s one thing to think, “Gee! I’d really like to go to that cool event on that stuff I care a lot about” but it’s another thing entirely to keep the commitment to yourself and actually go to the thing you want when your boss is asking you for something at the end of the day and you have nothing ready to eat for dinner and your kid has decided that now is the perfect time for a meltdown.
Next thing you know, you decide to skip the thing you were looking forward to.
And that’s why this piece is more tricky to navigate than building a piece of IKEA furniture.
You don’t cancel the fun that people you care about want to do in summer.
Nope.
What’s the first thing that you cross off your summer fun list? It’s YOUR stuff.
When push comes to shove, you don’t prioritize your own fun.
Then you wonder why summer just doesn’t feel fun anymore.
It’s because you literally aren’t having any fun!
If taking your kids (or someone else’s) to the zoo feels exhausting, I’d encourage you to take off the day AFTER you go to the zoo, so you can do something that does feel fun for you.
Yeah, that's right!
I give you permission to do things YOU think are fun, regardless of what other people think!
Short on time or vacation? Plan out a tiny bit of fun that you can do in a few minutes, no vacation days required.
Maybe it’s sipping lemonade in the shade for 5 minutes.
Maybe it’s closing your eyes and experiencing and appreciating the great invention that is air conditioning for a few moments.
Maybe it’s feeling the sun shine on your face as you walk around the block.
The important part in making summer fun again is prioritizing YOU.
I know you know this already, but it's worth repeating.
No one else is going to make sure that YOU have a super fantastic, wildly fun summer!
Of course, once you prioritize you and what you care about, there’s one more challenge standing in the way of making summer fun again (which we’ll talk about next week).
In the meantime, I dare you to reply and tell me: What’s one thing you commit to prioritizing for yourself this summer?
Ready to have a summer that is actually fun? Check out Make Summer Fun Again to learn how that can be your new story of summer.
Image by Shad0wfall from Pixabay