“Sometimes the best way to recharge our batteries is to unplug them.” Image and quote found on Pinterest
Summer can be such a busy time. For those of us who live in areas where the seasons change, summer means longer days and hotter temps. Many of us try to get the most out it by filling our days and weeks with as much as we can cram into them before the weather changes again. By the middle to end of August, some of us are running on a nearly empty “battery” trying to savor every last drop of summer! But do you ever use this season to take the time to recharge?
Even if your calendar is full right up until fall, you can find (or make) pockets of time to recharge your inner battery. First, take a moment to be grateful for the time and space you have, for your immediate surroundings and for those outside of your usual locale. The more you practice gratitude, the more you have. Then, try some of the following:
- Take a break from electronics: shut your phone off, power down your computer, disconnect for a while!
- While enjoying the outdoors, even with other people around, take five minutes (or longer) to close your eyes and really sense the nature around you: the warmth of the sun on your face, the texture of the sand under your toes, the waves crashing or the birds singing, and don’t just smell the flowers – really inhale their essence. Stopping to let your senses truly take in and appreciate the nature around you can be 100% exhilarating!
- Try something that you wouldn’t normally do: eat a new local seasonal food, go to a different beach, lake or hiking trail, take another route to your destination. Getting out of the norm and mixing things up can be very refreshing to our senses!
- Read something different: take a break from the daily newspapers and online articles and find a book to simply enjoy. Find something motivational or spiritual to help lighten things up, or get buried in a fantastic novel – the choices are endless!
- Go for a walk outside: whether you lift weights at the gym or run for miles outside, there is something about slowing things down and taking a walk outside that is truly rejuvenating!
- What may be good for you might not be what’s good for someone else: if it feels like you are surrounded by people 24/7 in the summer, with company coming and going or lots of engagements with others, plan for some alone time. On the contrary, if you work alone, live alone, eat alone, etc., make some plans with a friend or two. Sometimes doing the opposite of your normal life is exactly what the soul needs – connecting AND disconnecting are both ways to recharge!
There are numerous other ways to recharge your batteries – find some that resonate with you, that sound good and refreshing and NOT like work. Recharging isn’t about putting in lots of extra effort, although you may need to plan a little here, research a little there, depending on what you’d like to try. But the effort you do put in will be well worth the recharge you will get from it!
