Stop Waiting And Say Yes

Happy family on beach with snorkles ready to have a good time swimming

Fotolia_32664199_XSToday is the last day of school for the kids..

Each June the school year ends and I approach it with a sense of excitement, denial and guilt. Excitement that the sun is out and it’s time to play, denial that our perfectly crafted school schedules are getting thrown out the window (bedtime? what bedtime?) and guilt that I can’t take the whole summer off to play with the kids.

A side note on that. Notice how much of our guilt is self imposed. I grew up playing all morning and then we would ride out bikes to the neighborhood pool with the other kids and hang out there until dinner. As a result, I feel compelled to provide our children the same experience. However, it’s not an option for us. Plus, the reality is that if we just stayed home all morning, the boys would be beating each other up by noon and everyone would implode by 2pm. Our kids go to summer day camps. Many more than I did growing up, which I feel guilty about because they are not hanging out at home.  What I’ve realized, though, is that camp is one giant play date without any threat of having to clean your room, run errands or do otherwise boring adult stuff. Who wouldn’t want to go to camp all summer?

Not being able to take the whole summer off, though, can quickly become an excuse to not take any time off.

Vacations are a funny thing when you own your own business. You are either too busy to take time off, or you have the time, but worry about cash flow and if you can afford it. Stop waiting and say yes.

Your mission, once you finish this post is to get out your calendar and block off 4 days in either July or August that you are going to take off and play. (They can be consecutive days or individual, you choose.)

Then, say yes to those back yard BBQ’s, or maybe host one of your own. Go to the concerts in the park that you are always meaning to check out, but before you know it the season is over and you missed the whole thing.

Make this your summer to say yes and have fun.

And for those of you hyperventilating, wondering how on earth you are going to do this with all of the work you need to get done, trust me, it will work itself out. If a client calls to meet when you are planning on attending a concert, say no, offer another time and they will gladly take it.

These are the best years of your life. Live like they are. Say yes, have fun, block time out of your schedule to play. Business and everything else will work itself out.

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