Now, halfway through 2012, is a logical time to assess and regroup.
Have we accomplished what we'd hoped to? Should we cut our losses? Cut our Hair? Cut us some slack? Do we need a break? Are we there yet? Are we almost there? Are we having fun yet? In a Buddhist monastery, a small, clear bell rings at intervals throughout the day, not to signal the beginning or end of anything, but to bring the monks back to the present moment, to remind them to do whatever they're doing-be it meditation or the laundry-more fully.
Think of summer as the sweet bell of the year, recalling you to such refocusing (on where you are, who you are, what you're doing, whom you're doing it with, what you want, what you need).
A time to pat yourself on the back you're going in the right direction and to gently re navigate if you aren't.
Summer's an easy season to squander-an excess, inertia, indecision, resentment (why am I in this office and not at the pool?) or self-doubt (why am I on this beach and not finding a cure for cancer or helping the elderly?).
Perhaps the best possible use of these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (as Shakespeare so aptly put it) is calling yourself to consciousness, taking stock and re-energizing.
Below, some suggestions for doing so.
None requires equipment or complicated cos times; much can be done while lying in a hammock: Lighten up.
The beauty of this suggestion is the range of possible interpretation.
Do we mean don't take yourself so seriously, have a good laugh, lose weight, go blond, spend more time in the sun (with protection), spend more time in love (with protection), by a string of paper lanterns for the backyard? You tell us.
Read the miracle of mindfulness (beacon press) by the monk and Zen master.
This is a manual of meditation, but the suggestions (e.
g.
, "Don't hurry for even one second") are as simple to follow as those for a slow-motion bath.
We should celebrate holidays with family.
Call someone you haven't talked to since new years.
When he or she asks you what's new listen carefully to yourself.
(Eavesdropping on yourself is a fabulous source of information.
) Take a new route to work.
Notice three things about this unfamiliar journey.
(The three things don't have to be interesting.
But somehow they will be.
)