“Then followed that beautiful season… Summer… Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Summer is here in full bloom after what was, at least up here in Sweden, a long and cold winter and spring.
So this week I’d like to share 7 small and simple tips that you can use to create a happier summer – and rest of the year – for yourself.
1. Go slow.
You’ll be less stressed and you’ll enjoy all the smells, the sights and people in your summer even more.
So slow down a bit and use all your senses to tap into what is happening in this moment around you and inside of you.
2. Say yes to the new.
Go for something new. Expand your comfort zone in a small way. Or a bigger one.
Go somewhere you haven’t been before. Take up a new hobby. Read a book or try eating something or doing something that isn’t what the regular you would do.
Few things add happiness so simply as finding a new thing you enjoy or may even love does.
3. Just do nothing at all.
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all time has to be booked up for some activity.
Humans are however not robots and so that often leads to more stress and to little of the recharging that could have helped you to keep doing quality work during the fall and winter being done.
So try doing nothing at all. Just go for a walk in the woods. Or sit by a lake or the ocean and take in your world.
Focus only on that with all your senses and let your mind and body relax and rejuvenate.
4. Be the summer you want to see.
Don’t wait for someone else to create the summer you want to have. Instead get the ball rolling yourself.
Take action and take the first small steps forward.
Arrange a party or a picnic. Set up a movie night when the summer rain is pouring outside. Take a walk or a run every warm morning to get your energy levels up.
5. Be kind in small ways.
One of the simplest ways to live a happier life is to focus on being kind.
It does rarely take much energy.
Just a simple compliment or lending a listening ear while someone vents can brighten that person’s day.
And it brings happiness to your life too as you see his or her face light up. And how you think about and behave towards others tends to spread to how you treat yourself too. More kindness towards others leads to more self-kindness.
6. Savor the summer moments right here instead of being lost in the future or past.
There will be moments this summer you won’t want to miss by being somewhere else in your head.
So decide that you will take the time and focus to savor the small moments like a melting ice-cream in the sun but also the bigger ones with the people closest to you.
7. Just accept how you feel instead of pushing it away.
Don’t fall into the trap of pushing how you deep down feel or think away with distractions or forced positive thinking.
Instead, if you have negative feelings or thoughts about something that have popped up again and again so far this year take some time for yourself or with someone close to you to think/talk about it.
Then later on, after you have accepted and processed how you truly feel and think sit down with a pen and paper.
Come up with one small step or a small plan that you can take action on to start moving yourself out the situation that is troubling you and into something better. And take action on that plan with just a first small step forward as soon as you can.
