This Summer

This summer is going to be different…

This summer I will spend some time on a bit of the usual. I will clean out closets, scrub under the stove burners and above the kitchen cabinets, and think about having a garage sale.

But this summer will also be different…

I will do those usual things, but I will also spend more time reading the books I have piled high for so long. I will make time for what is important to me. I will listen to music and look at art and learn something new.

Photo credit: Lisa A. Listwa

I will exercise more. I will continue to eat good and healthy foods. I will nurture my body, my mind, and my spirit. I need to be strong for the rest of my life’s journey.

Photo credit: Lisa A. Listwa

I will sleep more. I will set a bedtime and a waking time and stick to it. The benefits of a good night’s sleep are far-reaching. I will take naps. I will sleep with the windows open at night while crickets chirp and by a window on a cool rainy day. I will sleep in the sunshine and in the coolness of an afternoon indoors on much-too-hot-for-anything days.

I will watch movies in the local park at night. I will teach my Daughter the joy of having ice cream for dinner on a steamy summer evening. I will watch fireworks, both up close and from far away. I will watch the sun rise and set and not worry about the time.

Photo credit: Lisa A. Listwa

I will spend time outdoors with my bare feet touching the earth. I will drink cool, clear water. I will play in the rain. I will fly a kite. I will sing and dance and maybe even run or jump just a little bit. I will laugh more and smile more.

Photo credit: Lisa A. Listwa

I will count how many days we have lived and loved well rather than how many days remain. I will enjoy each day with no expectation of any kind about what lies ahead. I will make sure that every day finds me a little bit better than the last.

This summer I will live deliberately. This summer I will be.

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This post was previously published on The Meaning of Me and is republished on Medium.

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