I was at the pool with my nephews the other day. I pulled a lounge chair into the shade, laid my towel down to make the plastic more comfortable, and set my beach bag beside me. Even though I had dutifully lathered sunscreen on, with my fair skin it’s possible for me to get a sunburn in 5 minutes, so the shade is my place. In my bag, I had my calendar, two notebooks, pens, sunscreen, sunscreen lip balm, water for the boys, and my paleo greens, reds, and C in cold water for me (thank you, Cambiati!). I spent some time reviewing my notes from the conference I recently attended. I reviewed my calendar and made sure my paper calendar and electronic calendar matched with all appointments scheduled, made a couple of calls, and I sent several quick emails from my phone.
It was such a beautiful, warm (warm for me is typically hot or “a scorcher” for others), summer day. With the warm air, the reflection of the water, and the happy noise of my nephews splashing in the pool, I felt so grateful and delighted to be at the pool that day.
Being in such a relaxing fun environment gave me space to casually think and pull ideas together that had been scrambled in my brain over the last several weeks. I really gained some great insight and clarity around some ideas I want to implement in my business.
I have to say that being able to have my nephews come over to my house to play, truly felt like a luxury and a privilege. A luxury to spend some time with kids being kids. As a single woman with no kids, I don’t see the world through a child’s eye on an everyday basis. It’s a great perspective to live in from time to time. I can see why parents are so grateful for their kids as I imagine they see that childlike perspective every day. To spend time with family that I want to build a strong relationship with felt important to me and I valued our time together.
How are you at keeping up with your relationships with the important people in your life while you grow your business? Are you creating the lifestyle you want to live, enjoying today as you build tomorrow?
My nephews both have birthdays in July and will be turning 11 and 13. Great ages for playing in a pool! I didn’t care at all what I looked like in my bathing suit, they couldn’t care less. They were excited to toss a ball around and have me in the pool with them. I asked them if they could do handstands in the pool under water – and we all ended up spending a good amount of time working on our underwater in-the-pool handstands (and with my dance background I did make them keep their legs straight, together, and to point their toes!) My handstands were very rusty, and it gave me a childlike joy to revive this lost skill. I can’t remember the last time I tried to do a handstand in a pool! At the end of the day, I had water in my ears, felt like I had an entire summer vacation, and experienced some of the best sleep!
Some of my poolside revelations:
- Take advantage of time with family
- A relaxing, fun environment is a great way to connect the dots on more serious thoughts
- Be grateful for what you have
- Create opportunities for work and fun to co-exist
- Do handstands in the pool