Very often, we associate the summer with holidays, and holidays with resting. But have you ever experienced it not being like that, or rather, the opposite happening?

These past few weeks have shown me that I´m not less busy during the summer; in fact, I´m busier. And when the time comes for us to go on holiday, in a couple of weeks, there will be a lot of movement as well, as it often happens when one travels. So much so that I can visualise myself coming back at the end and saying, like Mafalda in that old comic strip, that I need a holiday to recover from my holiday...

I´m not sure whether I´ve mentioned this in the blog or not, but I feel like I´ve been waiting to get peace and quiet for months, maybe even years, and the peace and quiet are not arriving.

And now I know that they´re not going to appear as if by magic.

Because peace and quiet don´t just materialise one day. You have to attract them. Create them. And above all, you have to leave space for them in your calendar.

(Picture of the sea, which is luckily just about a forty-minute drive away from my house, affording me the luxury of visiting every now and then without having to be on holidays.)

It is true that in these summer months, with the good weather (Ireland has had exceptional weather this week), slowing down is a little bit easier, even if it´s just because the heat doesn´t leave us any other choice... Summer is a terrific opportunity for us to dedicate time and attention to an activity that´s fundamental for human beings: RESTING..

Resting physically and mentally. Recovering your strength. Recharging your batteries.

But what if we still have work to do? Well, on the one hand, we can rethink where each task falls within the scales of urgency and importance, to see if we can lighten the load a little bit (I´m sure the answer is yes).

On the other hand, as far as possible, we can adopt a more relaxed attitude, closer to "holiday mode", alleviating any unnecessary pressure and starting to move towards a more sustainable rythm..

Speaking of this, here´s a quote by Gregorio Marañón that I found really interesting:

Working without hurry is the greatest rest for an organism.

That is, it´s not about doing absolutely nothing (at least, not all the time), but about performing our tasks more calmly, without stress. Because, as John Steinbeck said:

The art of resting is part of the art of working.

And this last one, I´m not sure who said it (the quote is everywhere, but the author is not clear):

Sometimes, the most productive thing you can do is rest.

How about you? How are you resting this summer?