Summer's Breeze - M's Gems

Easy Peezy!

By: Melissa Goldberg

I am excited to continue this week by expanding on one of last weeks gemʼs “Donʼt force it.” It has been my life mantra for years and it has allowed me to get through some of lifeʼs daily bumps in the roads. The ironic thing is my grandfather was actually yelling at me when he told me not to force it. You see, the key to his house door was a bit sticky and if you kept forcing the key, he was nervous you were going to break it and it would get jammed in the door. He would yell “donʼt force it, put it in slowly and turn”. He was right. In life you sometimes need to slow down, take it easy and proceed with caution.

Whatʼs nice about Mother Nature, is that sometimes she forces us to to slow down and go with the flow. Right now itʼs summer and the heat takes its toll. Our bodies require a bit more down time then usual and our minds may seem a bit fried before the sun sets. Relief seems nowhere in sight. That is until you catch those fleeting summer breezes or hear those bells. One thing I love about summer is, no matter what chaos is happening at the moment, when Mr Softee turns the corner, the kids drop what they are doing and race for a cone with sprinkles (myself included) and to sit on the stoop and just enjoy their ice cream.

So, why not chill or toss the Blackberry appointment calendar aside? Probably because we just have too much to do. Who can find the time to slow down and take a reprieve from the heat of our lives? We live in a time of constant communication and tight deadlines. If I dismiss a calendar appointment, my Blackberry will re-remind me 5 minutes later. Time is money and there is no time to lose...but there is. If you donʼt slow down occasionally, you will miss the best part.

Donʼt Force It, Embrace It - This past winter we had a couple of bad snow storms and for the first time I really embraced the situation. My Blackberry usually has a full day of appointments and things I want to get done. During the first storm, I decided to carry on with what I wanted to get accomplished. I got into my car and realized I needed gas. After I filled up my car tank, I got on the road and there was a disabled vehicle blocking the entrance ramp and so after about 30 minutes of getting detoured to another entrance onto the highway, I noticed I was late for my first meeting. Already I could feel the tension gaining. I also started getting a couple of cancellations, but I was determined to get my work done. Not to go into detail, I soon realized I was forcing this snow day to be like any other day.

Itʼs the Journey Not the Destination - One of the best gems I've ever heard. Years ago, when we lived in the city, we used to walk to the park on Saturday mornings. I used to get so eager to get there. I wanted to get to the park so we could get the picnic table I liked and I wanted to get there early enough so that the kids could have enough time to play before nap time. I would get a bit intense about getting there until it was pointed out to me that my kids didnʼt need to get to the park to enjoy their day, but that the walk to the park (the journey) was just as much fun for them. They loved to jump on the metal cellar doors and they loved to look at the giant goldfish in the Japanese restaurant window. So, next time your making yourself crazy trying to get from point A to B, sit back, take in the scenery and enjoy the journey in between.

Under Promise, Over Deliver - In business, this is an important rule. Most often this principle is learned the hard way. When your striving to provide great customer service, you can get caught up in the moment and make promises you may not be able to deliver. Itʼs after you walk out of the meeting and realize that it may be impossible to fulfill some of those promises you just made. This is important to apply to our personal lives as well. Just recently a friend had made some plans to visit friends at their summer home. The plans were made months ago and as the weekend approached she was overwhelmed. Not because she didnʼt want to see her friends, but because the summer was flying by and it seemed like every weekend was committed to packing up the car and headed out for a long adventure. She found herself doing everything except relaxing which is exactly what weekend excursions are supposed to deliver.

Plan a Staycation - Danielle Boonstra http://www.danielleboonstra.com/ discussed steps to helping us find a way to slow down. The first step was intent. To sit down at night and set your intentions for the next day. With summer flying by so quickly itʼs best to sit and set your intentions for the whirlwind of events that happen in only the 8 weeks of summer. Plan a Staycation, mark a big X on your calendar for one or two weekends over the summer and plan to stay home and go with the flow.

You know the old saying...All work and no play makes you a one dull momma.

Before summer is long gone, donʼt forget to set up a play date with nobody and make sure you plan on doing a whole lot of nothing.

~ Mʼs Gems