Time to Rejuvenate

Summer is the perfect time for rejuvenation. It’s a great time to refuel with great food and quality time off. Think of yourself and the life you lead like a muscle. Whenever you build a muscle up by using and exercising it, it needs time to recover. Otherwise, the muscle can easily tear and get weaker. Notice how shoulder surgery is popular lately? I wonder what’s going on. I wonder if that could be a metaphor for the way people are living!

“Listen to your body” is my message. I write that a lot. If you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, this is the perfect time to take some time off. Taking time away from normal routine gives you the opportunity to re-think what you do and even how you do it. It’s the opportunity to reframe what you’re doing.

I recently made changes that will re-direct my time. I found myself overwhelmed with commitments and still trying to figure out how to make it all work while more and more stuff kept coming at me. I finally had to say STOP! It was up to me to reframe the picture, shift my own thinking and redirect my energy.

Change is hard, I know. It’s hard to change relationships, jobs, schedules and commitments. And it’s hard to change habits. I ground myself in the biggest change I ever made. Looking back at how I’ve changed my eating style over the years, I realize I can change if I just stop working against Nature and myself.

It’s natural to rest and rejuvenate. I urge you to take time this month to actually schedule your own rejuvenation time. Plan what you’d like to do, schedule it and then do it! Declare your own time to take care of yourself. Little things count so don’t worry that you have to plan a big vacation to accomplish the rejuvenation you need.

Here are a few of the things I’ve planned and scheduled that don’t involve J-O-B type work or massive vacation plans:

* Pick strawberries at a local farm. It’s a perfect mental break plus I get to snack on ripe berries along the way.

* Repeat above when blueberry season starts.

* Get my butt on my bike after dinner on a weekday.

* Spend several days in Gloucester, MA exploring the coast with my husband.

* Eat more local organic summer foods as they arrive at our area farm stands.

* Meet a group of friends at a new State Park to explore the trails.

* Enjoy more time with my 93 year-old father.

Make your own list of rejuvenating activities or even non-activities (like napping in the backyard) and then implement it. See how your mood and attitude improve as you go along.