Smell the Sea…

It’s July already.

How did this happen? Where did June go? I haven’t done at least a third of what I set out to do…

At the beginning of every summer I trick myself into thinking that summer is going to be relaxing. But what typically happens is that I try to jam a full work week into a third as many days. I stay up later and then wonder why I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I try to put a month of weekend activities into one and then wonder why I can’t think straight or focus on my work.

I think I may need to check my expectations.

I have worked on accepting that my mind has a tendency to jump from thing to thing and that sometimes this frenetic pace of thought leads to high and sometimes unreasonable expectations for everything. These high expectations then lead to disappointment, frustration and many times, self recrimination. It is a recurring theme for me and I am working on it.

The good news is that the start of July brings a balance to those expectations. The pressure of making this the best summer ever lessens and I start settling into a more sustainable routine. A slowing down into just enjoying and just being.

It makes me think of a Van Morrison lyric, “Smell the sea, and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.” A reminder that simplicity and mindfulness are key to being grounded and present. That it is not the summer that is relaxing, but my approach to it.

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