5 Tips for Ultimate Summer Happiness: A Challenge for Us Adults

On a day like today, I am instantly transported back to my childhood when my sister and I would get up at the crack of dawn, throw on our shorts and head out into the neighborhood for a day of playing in the sun.  Knocking on our friend's doors and gasping for breath after running all the way up the street, we would ask, rather abruptly, "Can [Scott, Megan, Matt, Michael, Brianne, Sanjani, Kajal, Kathy, Pam, Nicole, Elana, Janna, etc.] come out and play?" Those were the days.  The days of frivolous frolicking in our South Burnaby neighborhood with sweat dripping in our eyes and dirt on our knees as if it was just all in a hard days work.  I miss this feeling, and I want to get it back.  My goal this summer is to create an adult version, and I challenge you to do the same!

I pledge to do 5 things this summer that I hope will get me back to that deliriously happy state of mind where my biggest problem is who's Mom is providing our snack that day (please feel free to volunteer your mother should she show interest!).  Please join me in having the best adult summer EVER!

1. I pledge not to feel guilty for taking care of myself in this way and for prioritizing myself and my family/friends over my work.
2. I pledge to pick up the phone and call people individually to hang out instead of sending out mass texts to groups of people letting them know where we'll be.
3. I pledge to have as many friends and family BBQ's as possible (at my house or at my parents'...or at friends' if they're willing!) and sit out until we need to light the citronella candles :)
4. I pledge to ride my bike as much as humanly possible with my friends or by myself.
5. I pledge to go to an outdoor pool or beach and actually go swimming and get my hair wet even though it might look a hot mess afterwards (who cares!)

You may have noticed I didn't include extra-curricular activities such as having beers on a patio; I didn't include these summer things because they are inevitable.  We will definitely find ourselves on the patio at Local or the grass at Kits tossing back a few cold ones and blasting our music...Awesome!  I just thought I'd try something different this summer in addition to all the things we do each year in good ol' Vancity.  I want to feel the wind in my hair as I whip down Main street on my bike.  I want to sit out on a deck with candles burning, shooting the shit until the wee hours.  I want to have that heart pounding excitement I felt when I was a kid when it was summer, the sun was out, and we didn't have a care in the world.  This year I'm making a conscious effort to have the best summer ever and to not let it pass me by...Come knock on our door if your in the hood and let's go ride bikes!