What's New With You?

It’s almost officially summer, 2009. How will this be different from all other summers thus far? How can you make sure that when September comes around, you can say with satisfaction: this was the best summer of my life!

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Decide on 6 books you want to read. No matter how busy you are, you can always find time for a book. Steal time from your time spent online if you have to.  Maybe wake up ½ hour early this summer. Get a book from your local library if you don’t want to buy them. Get out your calendar to “assign” them to yourself, for example “Book 1” from June 1 – June 15, etc. Bonus suggestion: get one or more friends to join you so that you can talk about the book online or off.

• Select a neighbor - maybe one you don’t even know – and commit to having 4 conversations with that person this summer. If you pass a neighbor on the street, invite him/her for coffee? Learn enough about him/her that by the end of the summer you know enough to introduce him/her to others.

• Do a similar thing at work. Select someone whose work you admire or are simply curious about and ask for a coffee. Maybe do that with a different person each summer month.

• Call a relative you’d like to know more about – preferably someone outside your hometown and see how things are going.  Keep the conversation going by e-mail if it looks promising.

• If you won’t be able to vacation this summer, take one weekend each summer month (put on your calendar now) that you will spend doing something out of the ordinary. Visit a museum, invite people you rarely entertain to your place for a burger in the backyard, listen to music you know little about, clean your closet. Whatever it is, celebrate it in some way on Sunday evening of that weekend, maybe with a glass of wine.

• Give one thing away every week. Whether a handkerchief or a sofa, divest yourself of something and don’t replace it. See what new space opens up in your life because it’s gone.

Have a great summer!