Now Is My Time #23: Make The Most of Summer

Well it's officially summer and we have kicked it off with a flurry of activity beginning right off the bat with Memorial Day Weekend and my birthday celebrations and continuing on. I always love it when summer starts off with a bang. Sometimes summer can slip by so quickly.  If you let a few weeks go before you start enjoying it, it's almost over before you know it and you're trying to make up an entire summer of missed opportunities in the last three weeks of August.

Now is the time to make plans to make the most of this short but lovely season of the year. It's time to schedule in the big stuff. But I find that my best and boldest summer memories are often the days when a decision is made on a whim to have a party, pack a picnic or meet up with friends at the last minute. Those spur of the moment activities are often some of the most fun.

My family is here this weekend and we have been making the most of every day to the point we are all quite tired. Today we are out on another BIG adventurous day. This is the first time I've been with my sisters and my parents in almost two years so it's great to have them here. Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast and then drove up the coast to the Ventura County line. We went off the beaten path a bit around Zuma beach and around Point Dume and then wandered around the very beautiful Malibu Country Mart for a while. The best of both worlds, planned and unplanned adventures.

So my Now Is My Time goal for the summer is to live it to the fullest. While I'm doing that I'm also trying to stay conscious of the steps I've taken this year to live my life more fully. I am still meditating regularly and loving it. Still making time for friends and having awesome interactions and chats. Trying to do less and enjoy more. Being kind to myself in thoughts and words. Focusing on what is most important to me. Living more in the moment and living to do my best each day had made daily life much more peaceful, happy and meaningful. It has also reduced how much I carry stress with me. I seem more able to avoid anxiety and letting it weaken me - even though there are things to worry about and changes we are hoping for and need quickly.

Living for the current day makes fears of tomorrow and failures of the past less important and gives them less power over my life and my happiness. I like that a lot. Another blessing I feel from this year has been greater friendships. I have made quite a few new friends this year and I attribute that to being more present in my days, opening up and sharing more of myself, asking for help and doing service for others. All things I've written about as part of the Now Is My Time series. Glad to see things are working out and working well. The year is nearly half over. It is exciting to think about what great things there are to come in the second half of the year.