With summer officially starting, now is a great time to put your “to-get-done” checklist together.  You might be thinking about the list of family activities that get prioritized on your calendar each year.  Although that list is really important, it is not the one I am referring to here.  After all, almost everything on the family calendar typically gets done as planned.  The whole family rallies behind making sure nothing gets missed. The annual block party, visits to the town pool and beach outings all get the attention they deserve.

The list I am referring to is the one containing the things you are thinking about doing just for yourself.  Despite your best efforts, these activities often get shelved to make room for everything else.  Time passes and before you know it, the opportunity is gone.

So if you haven’t started writing your own wish list for summer, please get one going now.  These are my top 5 “soul quenching” activities you can do for YOURSELF this summer.

If you can’t do all five – pick just one.

5 Ways to Quench Your Soul for a Happy You this Summer…

1. Reflect on Your Own Special Intentions.

   Before you do anything, take some time to really reflect on how you are feeling right now.  Remember that almost six months have already gone by.  The start of summer invites a soulful check in with yourself.  We often race from one season to the next without slowing down to take a much needed breath. Pause for a bit to think about the kind of summer you would like to have. Find a quiet place to think about what you would like the coming months to bring into your own life.  Look back at the goals you set earlier in the year.  Are you making progress towards accomplishing what you set out to do? And how are you feeling physically? Remember that summer is the season for tending and caring for all that we planted during the winter.  It is now time to prune or water everything that has taken root and bloomed.  Shape your perspective about the areas in your life that need nourishing before setting out to do anything else. Write down a few adjectives that describe your current status (Are you feeling energized, stressed, happy, sluggish). Compare this to how you want to feel by the end of the summer (rested, active, more organized, more fit etc).  Knowing how you are feeling about your physical, emotional and spiritual self will help to ensure you prioritize the things that are most important to you.

2. Set Specific Goals and Make them Visible.  

   As a business professional, I know first hand how important goal setting and tracking is to fueling success.  I am also a firm believer in setting goals and making them visible to you and your supporters.  Having a set of key targets to reach each month (or week) gives us the opportunity to feel good about making the smallest improvements. I’ve also seen the negative effects of having way too many goals to manage. Value driven leaders never bog their teams down with too many goals.  It actually slows team momentum and creates an overwhelming feeling by trying to manage too many spinning plates.

   I set no more than 3-5 personal goals each year and monitor my progress daily.  I do my best to keep track of the good steps taken towards reaching my targets. Thinking of new ways to make more time for tasks that fell behind is always part of my thought process.  I’ve learned that the more I repeat the positive steps taken towards my goals, the more habit forming they become.  And, the easier they are to do. Think about the ways summer 2019 and being outdoors more often can place a check mark in a few boxes. Be sure that your goals reflect the things you want to do for your own happiness.

   On Gretchin Rubin’s Happier podcast, a listener shared her goal to stop eating meals while walking around doing chores.  She wants to really enjoy her meals. Great goal!  Maybe you want to feel more fit this summer or build a healthier diet. Or perhaps you really want to enrich your spiritual life.  Without writing your goals down so that you see them regularly, they simply won’t stick. I keep my goals visible using colorful post-it notes to remind me of  my “Top 3 goals for the day” or week and place them on my mirror or inside a cabinet I routinely open at the start of my day. Keeping them visible brings greater intention and focus on what you hope to accomplish.  Remember, your goals should never feel limiting.  Add or subtract as you see fit.  But make sure you are noting the key things that you want to accomplish for yourself.  Monitor your progress as often as you can. Treat yourself to some simple “gold star” rewards of your choosing for getting the hard things done.

3. Connect with Nature. 

   This year I made an intentional effort to spend more time outdoors and to starting my own indoor garden. I can’t express enough how much I enjoy greeting and caring for my beautiful flowers and plants at the start of my day. Taking a 20-30 minute walk around my neighborhood inspires a greater sense of well-being.  I love looking at the different garden designs, beautiful trees and creative window displays from one block to the next.  According to mindfulness experts, strive to connect with nature at least 2 hours per week or 30 mins a day if you can. It gives you much needed time to connect with yourself and aspirations for your life and family.  Nature with all its beautiful sounds will inspire gratitude and greater awareness of your many blessings.

4. Purge Stuff and Design Your Place of Quiet.  

   There are plenty of books providing all kind of data on the positive impact organization and order have on our happiness. When our atmosphere becomes too cluttered with stuff we either don’t need or can’t find you know its time to purge. Before summer gets underway try to find some time to clean out a few drawers or pack away clothes you’ve been meaning to donate.  Since we typically shop at this time of year, we’ll need room for our new summer treasures.  Don’t tackle every room at once.  Pinpoint the major areas that need down sizing.  I started this effort by picking just two closets in sore need of extra space and worked from there.  Before opening the door I did feel a little intimidated by all the stuff piled up beyond my reach. After shouting “On guard” I got busy rummaging through everything to separate the keepers from the donate pile.  When done it felt great to see what an empty, spacious shelf looks like again!  (Note:  my neighbors became concerned that we were moving after seeing the bags of stuff on my stoop.  I assured them I was just purging and going nowhere).

   Also important is carving out and designing a special place of your own to start and end each day. I love doing my thinking at my kitchen table because I can see the flowers in my yard and can hear the birds.  I also love looking at the pretty tree that shades my deck.  Keeping your current book of the month, daily journal, prayer books, colorful pens and other treasures in a basket nearby is something else you can do to make this area feel more special. Everyone needs a comfortable spot somewhere to curl up and think.  Your special place can be anywhere, including your front stoop.

5. Grow Your Prayer Life.  

   Making time to grow your spiritual life will bring you more happiness than you can imagine.  True spiritual growth in the Christian faith and reaping its blessings is a work of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul reminds us there are two kinds of spirituality: the false and the true. In 1 Corinthians chapters 12-15, we are told about true spirituality, and in particular, spiritual gifts. These are things that God desires for each of us. Scripture states that every person has at least one spiritual gift. God wants us to use our gifts to help others and to grow our own faith in Him.  Spending time in prayer to share your intentions and everything in your heart (and on your mind) is a wonderful way to grow spiritually. We all have our own special ways of praying and growing spiritually in the faith.  I love reading about the lives of great saints, listening to Christian podcasts and writing. Spending time with my father gives me more pearls of spiritual wisdom that can’t be found anywhere else. For me there is nothing more powerful than saying the Rosary.

   Have a wonderful and blessed summer!