1. Rest. We all need it, so don’t feel responsible that you are doing nothing
(workaholics please!) and enjoy the slower pace that summer season brings. Most people are so busy and work has got in their way. Get to bed early when you can and try not to watch television or any movie before bed time as I usually do (I hope, The Nanny show from the Hallmark Channel be moved to a morning timeslot! What a hilarious sitcom!).
2. Relax. You will be able to relax when you are well rested – it may take a day or two, before you get in the groove, but you will (am sure). Take deep breaths and slow your mind to also keep everything at a slow pace. Allow it to be open to new ideas when you’re ready to receive them.
3. Catch up with friends and family. Have a simple pot-luck cookout or picnic and re-connect with those you love and don’t see as often as you’d like. Keep it simple and unplanned – sometimes those are the best times we can share with each other and have fun (I often wonder, why the unplanned events are the most fun and without annoyances? In which I hope to seek answers in my next blog.)
4. Visit a new place you haven’t been to before. There are many beautiful places around you that you probably have not visited for the first time. Do so now for you are not sure when you will have the time to visit it again. It will enlighten you to your local surroundings and provide you with food for thought when generating new ideas for your personal and professional life. You may opt to do it by land, by sea or by air. But once you’re there, you may want to take a hike to gaze at and appreciate the wonders and beauty of the place as what I have done in HK and other new places I have visited (a lot of fun!). Try to learn about its people, history, culture and the arts.
5. Read a book, or two or three and leave your PDAs at home. Summer is the best time to give yourself permission to read for pleasure. It’s great to read a good book, but the books that allow you to put yourself into someone else’s world are wonderful escapes that can leave you rejuvenated and intrigued (at present, am reading Eckhart Tolle’s – A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, which I haven’t finished reading yet). In as much as we want to finish the book we are reading without any hassle, there are so many electronic devices we need to respond to. Remember, most people are taking time off now, too, so there’s probably nothing very urgent you need to be responding to – unless you’re a physician on call, so leave the gizmos at home when you hit the beach. It is going to be a long time off from work come April 6-12 and I am sure to bring Eckhart Toole’s and two other books given to me by a dear friend (You know who you are, that is if you are reading this!).
6. Learn a new skill or talent you’ve always wanted to. It is best to go back to school or work, with a new you. You can learn new skills by enrolling at TESDAs short courses. Take driving, baking, electronics, computer-related courses and dressmaking for instance. Meanwhile, you can also hone or develop you untapped veiled talents by enrolling in different short-term classes such as dancing, singing and the rest of the arts. You can attend Maria Abulencia’s Healing Arts classes (Maria authored three books to date. One I have read is Maria’s Notebook– a story of life, love and its complications).
7. Work on your physique. Because of the frenzied work schedule during the entire year, day-in and day-out, we have forgotten to focus on our own shape (you may opt to read my previous blog). It is not best to just come back to work equipped with a new skill or talent. I believe it would be very best to come back with totally a different aura. A Revitalized you inside and out. You can have a total-self make-over. You can enroll on a gym, yoga, pilates or belly dancing class. Visit your hairstylist, dermatologist, and your dentist for your external radiance and your cardiologist, internist and all for your internal magnificence.
8. Reflect on the year so far. Summertime is a great mid-point to the year that allows you to take note of your accomplishments to date and re-visit some of the things you’d like to continue to pursue in the months to come, or before the end of the year – just in time for those infamous annual reports, year-end accomplishments and Institutional Annual Plan (I hope the different departments would submit theirs so I could consolidate them all early!).
9. Sit on the beach and listen to an audio book. If you’re obligated to fill your mind with more business development information, a How To CD program might be just the thing? Better yet, you can enjoy the new place that you are visiting while listening to your favorite e-books with Ophra’s favorite new gadget—the Amazon Kindle (it can handle 4,000 or so e-books from Amazon.com in which otherwise depends on its memory capacity). Resist the urge to take notes while listening. Close your eyes and take in what you can. If something strikes you, that’s what you were meant to hear.
10. Set some Back to School, Back to Work Goals for yourself. Before school days come around, write down a list of things you’d like to do. Make some plans, decisions and start the academic year off with a bang! People are most motivated to start new projects in the summer because of our past conditioning with school, etc.
1.
Months have passed and I have been so lazy doing my routine (badminton and swimming). Tired from work and going home late at night made me feel whacked. Work has great demands. Mind was preoccupied with so many stressing thoughts (life, work, family and relationships). Time was short (Everything is instant). Travel is lengthy. Am at a loss! Can’t keep track!
