9 Ways To Love Summer Again

I was pretty sure summer as an adult would be even better. I’d be poolside in Vegas, or traveling the seven seas by cruise liner, or visiting every ballpark in America. Reality hasn’t quite hit my childhood imagination. Instead, I spend most of my summers juggling PTO, unsuccessfully dodging sunburn, and praying I don’t show up to work dripping sweat because my A/C couldn’t last another heat wave. Perfect summers only exist in the movies (and let’s be honest, there’s a lot of them this year.)

Summer can be more than just a break in the schedule. It has the potential to be full of purpose and peace, where magic (and memories) are made by embracing the mundane. You don’t need an Instagrammable vacation, tickets to the hottest concert, or even a pool pass to make summer awesome.

Here are 9 ways I’m learning to love summer again:

1) Slow Down

This is first, because it’s the most important. If you don’t do this, the rest of this list won’t matter. I noticed that, every summer, I’d find myself running from thing to thing trying to squeeze in every last barbecue and pool day that I could before frost hit. Then, just like that, I’d find myself trading my flip-flops for snow shoes, with only blurred memories of a summer that flew by.

Now, I’m trying to literally slow down and smell the roses. (They smell like Dr. Pepper Zero, by the way.) The best summer memories—and hence, the best summers themselves—are built in-between the things we have to do. So pause the home project and lay in the grass with your wife; leave the pile of laundry and watch Bluey with your kids; save email for tomorrow and take the dog on an extra long walk to the park.

When you get your favorite meal, you don’t gobble it down in 3.5 seconds. You savor each bite. You notice how the flavors work together. You make it last. I’m pretty sure summer tastes like watermelon, Sweet Chili Doritos, and chlorine, but you’ll only discover it if you slow down long enough to actually taste it.

2) Touch Grass

Summer happens best outside. So get out there and put your feet in the grass (or concrete, or sand, or mud, or a rain puddle). The gift of summer is longer days, and you can make the most of them by taking an early morning walk, eating dinner outside, or sitting on the porch until the sun sets. Studies show that nearly half of all adults spend less than 30 minutes a day outside. Summer is your opportunity to change that, and jump on a whole host of positive health outcomes connected to time outdoors: less stress, lower blood pressure, boosted mood, and better sleep. Sounds like a win-win to me.

3) Free Your Eardrums

Give your AirPods a break this summer—I promise, the season sounds better without them. I don’t care how good the new Noah Kahan album is, it can’t beat the giggle of kids throwing water balloons, the birds chirping in the trees above, or even the constant hum of traffic from a busy street. Real life happens outside our constant barrage of distraction, and I’ll be the first to admit, I often miss it (especially when the AirPods are in).

That doesn't mean you have to go full monk-mode and disavow all podcasts, music, or audiobooks until fall. But what if you made the decision to listen to them on a bluetooth speaker instead of a personal set of headphones? That shift alone can transform your audio habits from a personal experience to a shared one, capable of building connections between yourself and your family, friends, and maybe even your neighbors (depending on your preferred volume level).

4) Find Free Fun

Who doesn’t love free stuff?! And there’s so much of it happening during the summer months. From free library programs, to movies in the park, to goat yoga or art classes, the opportunities are endless. Your ability to find something free that you’re also interested in is only limited by your willingness to search and go. So hit Google, then grab the car keys. Start with “free summer fun in ______ (fill in your city’s name)". It’s that easy.

Turns out, the best things in life summer are still free.

5) Save Some

With all the money you saved by racking up free fun, you should have a few extra dollars in your pocket—stow it away. No one ever likes the b-word, but budgeting for summer can actually free you up to be able to have new experiences.

For my family, we actually start saving for summer in January, so by the time heat and humidity arrive, we’re able to pull the trigger on some special summertime fun. But even if you didn’t start saving at the turn of the new year, you can find creative ways to hold some cash back—skip the coffee shop run, check out the book from the library instead of buying it, or just delete the Amazon app from your phone for two weeks.

Setting aside some fun money ahead of time means worrying less about your checking account at the end of the month.

6) Spend Some

The best thing about that money you worked hard to save? You set it aside with the intent to spend it. So when the time is right, go for it!

For my family, summer starts when we hear the ice cream truck coming down the street. There’s nothing like spending $25 for overpriced ice cream… and I actually meant that. The smile it puts on my daughters’ faces, and the way it makes me feel like a kid again, is worth every red cent. That being said, in order to keep this moment special (and keep some cash in my wallet for other fun), we usually only do this once a season—but it’s a splurge the whole family looks forward to, and one we never regret.

7) Share Something You Enjoy With Others

You don’t have to die in the back of an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness to learn an important lesson: happiness only becomes real when it is shared. Don’t spend summer alone. For me, that looks like a good near-beer with friends. I discovered my love of non-alcoholic beer a few years ago, and now it’s my go-to drink to slow down with the people I love. For you, it might be frisbee golf, playing board games, or training for a marathon (you maniac!). Don’t do the things you love by yourself. Bring someone else into the mix with you and—BOOM—new summer memories unlocked.

8) Do Something You Want To Do

Absolutely spend time with others, but also be sure to save a little time for yourself. What’s something you’d love to do, but you haven’t found the time to begin? Summer is your season. Lately for me, that’s been reading books that I actually want to read, and not just books I’ve been assigned to read for work, pressured into by friends, or compelled to pick up because of their status as a classic. I spent the last two summers with dinosaurs, reading Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. And you know what? It was awesome.

And yes, it did actually take two years, because finishing wasn’t actually my goal—it was slowing down, chilling out, and doing something just for the pleasure of it.

It might not be reading for you, but whatever it is (Watercoloring? Writing a screenplay? Building a unicycle?), be sure to save time to pursue it during the summer months, even if (or especially if) it falls off the radar the rest of the year.

Don’t forget, you’re supposed to be enjoying your life.

9) When In Doubt, Eat A Popsicle

This one is last, because it’s the 2nd most important thing on this list—no joke. Every summer, my family buys hundreds of those freeze-pops that are nothing more than sugar, water, and Red 40. We throw those plastic tubes in the freezer, and summer becomes magical overnight. That’s because there’s no bad time, day or night, for a popsicle. Grab one when it’s hot outside, or when you had a bad day at work. Celebrate a great little league game with one, grab one for breakfast, or share some with the army of neighborhood kids in your backyard. When in doubt, eat a popsicle. They bring smiles, and, at least according to the Bible, that’s good medicine.

Best. Summer. Ever.

These 9 things are helping me love summer again. But understand, this isn’t a mandate from your doctor. Pick and choose what works for you, and put it into action. The magic isn’t in doing all nine of these things perfectly, but in trying something new.

The magic of summer is found in the mundane. You can have the best summer since you were a kid and do nothing Instgram-worthy—in fact, if that’s the case, I’ll tend to think you’re doing it right.

Psalm 118:24 reminds me just how incredible an ordinary day, or season, can be.

“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The poet didn’t write those words about a dream vacation, a week spent at Disneyland, or a perfect summer night capped off with fireworks. For all we know, he could have penned that Psalm on an ordinary Tuesday in July, with nowhere important to be.

When we start to treat today like the present it is, something changes inside us. We only get one summer this year. Let’s make it count, because as fun as this summer will be, winter is coming.

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Disclaimer: This article is 100% human-generated.

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