Summer time: Stopping to smell the roses

For many of us, Summer is associated with holidays, maybe some Sun and travel, a break, but how many of us REALLY take a break nowadays?
We might be taking a break from a regular job and not needing to go in to the office but is it a clean break? Or do you try to think ahead to Autumn, catch up on work issues which always seemed to slip or maybe even, though on holiday, you still access the mails, read the apps and though not physically in the office are still very much thinking about work related issues?

Then again, if miraculously, you mange to cut yourself off, maybe your Summer goals are to catch up on all the other items which you feel need doing, and leave or wake with a to-do list a mile long?
I admire my coaching clients who indeed take their self reflection homework with them but even to them I say: Take a break!
Literally, no agenda.
Waking up fully in the present without deadlines and lists, ignoring that nagging voice telling us that "really you should...".
Even the most wonderful goals can become chores if we don't every now and then step back.

No agenda means seizing the day as it comes, in whatever shape that may be. Once not told where to go, our mind can be wonderfully revealing of the little things, little pleasures that actually show us what matters most.

Stepping back provides a better view of the big picture. How can you see something if your nose is in it? Sometimes those tasks we are trying so assiduously to commit to are not actually taking us where we want to go. When we step back, we think more clearly and may access insights of a far more creative solution our brain missed as it was focusing on what had already been set.
More and more companies are noticing the downside of having employees 24/7 electronically available as they are becoming less creative.

Even the things we think are meaningful as in cooking for loved ones can detract from what really matters. I remember my Mother lovingly spending hours in the kitchen to show her love to her family, whereas most of us would have just preferred she sit down and spend time with us and a baguette and cheese would taste extra delicious if we were spending quality time together.

This Summer just BE instead of relentless DOING.
Notice things, the little things and notice people with genuine curiosity and desire to connect and share.

Let alone the pleasure of accessing moments of genuine happiness, that state so many aspire to without realising it can only ever be accessed in the present, it will give you clarity of mind and vision and you will probably achieve more of the things which will make a difference, and in a more efficient way as a bonus.


Wishing you a wonderful Summer, a summer of being present and fully inhaling the heady fragrance of roses...