BY GLENN MOLLETTE
Summer is here and will soon be gone.
Here is what you can do for an enjoyable summer.
Turn off the television. Seriously how much of your life have you spent staring at the television? I grew up watching one channel most of the time and have surely parked a lot of my life in front of the tube. Television is good for a little entertainment, news and salvaging a boring day. However, life has to be more than television.
Limit yourself to no more than 15 to 20 minutes of social media every day. Actually every other day might be better. Wish your friends happy birthday. Stay in touch with significant people in your life and then turn it off.
Unplug yourself from negative people. Do you really need negativity in your life? You may be stuck with some at work and even family. However, stop catering to those people who drain you, resent and are envious of you. Spending time with people who constantly badmouth others and are angry about something is not enhancing your life.
Formulate your own opinions on all the national political issue stuff that we hear every day. We hear political jargon nonstop and it’s driving us all crazy. Do you really want to spend your entire summer listening to politicians from Washington who aren’t interested in what you are doing but only what they are doing? You can pick it all back up this winter when there are ten inches of snow on the ground.
This summer be involved in doing. Do something. Participate. Visit your local state parks. Sit by a lake somewhere. Go fishing. Picnic. Take lots of walks. Sit on a porch with a friend or family member. Use your telephone for conversations. Garden some. Mow your grass. Sing in your church choir. Connect with a local exercise class. Shoot some basketball. Take some mini one- or two-day trips. Connect with people. You may be working six or seven days a week. Still, find a way to smell the roses and enjoy summer.
There is something about participating in life that makes life more like life. It doesn’t haven’t to be on a grand scale or in a grand arena. However, it can be in your arena and it’s our individual lives we are talking about and that’s what will matter to you at the end of your summer.
(Glenn Mollette is a nationally/internationally read author of columns, inspirational devotionals and books. He is the author of 12 books.)