Week 4 of Summer: 7/10 - 7/16/2016

At the beginning of the Summer, I made a Design Your Summer to-do list (thanks Gretchen Rubin!). I have been able to check a good amount of them off, highlights include (black-light!) mini-golf and flatwater tubing down the Potomac at Harper's Ferry. All of this sounds like a lot of planning, doesn't it?

Planning well in advance feels more casual and ideal. Planning the week of feels stressed and overwrought. That's mostly what I.ve learned. Last minute decision between black-light and traditional mini-golf felt fun, last minute choices regarding how to pull off tubing was.... a real magic-killer. As soon as you lose that 'Summer Stars' feeling try to do what you can to avoid the stressy zone of over-planning.

Plan in a way that feels comfortable - do you like big groups or small, planning with someone, divide tasks, etc.
Know the people you're going with - their preferences on how an event or day might go.
Think about food, water, equipment, length of time - all WELL beforehand.
REMEMBER God's plan (or energy, weather, any larger power) is not a logistical nightmare; it either works or it doesn't and the mess in between is usually of your own making!

The goal is to not drive yourself crazy over something that is supposed to be fun. I grew up in a snowglobe of tense logistics - such is the LIFEof a latchkey, separate-homes kid. While I appreciate structure (seriously, like a lot) I also have needed to learn, as an adult, when to cut myself a break, let it go, and let the chips and stars fall where they may.

x/Amy