{"id":575,"date":"2015-07-31T06:50:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T10:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=575"},"modified":"2015-07-31T16:10:44","modified_gmt":"2015-07-31T20:10:44","slug":"week-46-summer-fun-challenge-quiet-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=575","title":{"rendered":"Week #46 – Summer Fun Challenge: “Quiet Time!”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fun<\/a>

Fun with Photo Booth! (photo credit: Grace Church)<\/p><\/div>\n

Week #46 – Summer Fun Challenge: \u201cQuiet Time!\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and\u00a0welcome to week SEVEN of our Summer Fun Challenge!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We (my siblings and I) grew up in a house with \u201cQuiet Time.\u201d \u00a0That meant that after a certain time at night — you simply did not make noise. \u00a0And if you did — well, my parents were the type that actually imposed consequences for actions! \u00a0So\u2026let\u2019s just say, you didn\u2019t want to go there!<\/p>\n

As a kid, being able to stay up late to watch Honeymooners re-runs seemed like no big deal. \u00a0In retrospect, I totally understand. \u00a0My father had to get up very early to go to work — and my mother got up with him — so sleep was really important. \u00a0It\u2019s pretty important to me now, too — and I don\u2019t even have kids!<\/p>\n

As grown-ups, we Churches still love our quiet time! \u00a0Rob especially. \u00a0He loved hours upon hours of solitude. \u00a0It’s one thing he really taught me as an adult —\u00a0the value of time alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

And yet…here we are, at the height of summer and busier than ever, right?! \u00a0<\/span>The shore is bustling with activity\u2026daytrippers, weekenders, extended-stayers, landscapers, lifeguard whistles, concerts, activities, something to do\u2026every\u2026single\u2026day! \u00a0Perhaps you feel it too — the pressure that builds as we turn the calendar to August and \u201cBack-to-School\u201d looms in the distance. \u00a0So much to do\u2026so little time\u2026and the countdown clock to Labor Day is on!<\/p>\n

Our instinct is to pack it all in\u2026to do more, to take advantage of the nice weather, to make hay while the sun shines!<\/p>\n

And yet — our bodies are telling us just the opposite! \u00a0To sit, to rest, to watch, to wait. \u00a0Can you feel it too? \u00a0The outside pressure to squeeze every last drop out of our long summer days — and the internal pleading to stop and slow down?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to make a girl (or boy) crazy!<\/p>\n

Your assignment for this week: Don’t get crazy…GET QUIET! \u00a0<\/strong>It is easy to get swept up into the busyness of summer. \u00a0Even vacations — intended to take you away from it all — can take on a life of their own so big and harried, you come back feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation! \u00a0Fight the urge to pack it all in\u2026and take some time to get quiet. \u00a0This may be as simple as turning off the TV and going to bed early. \u00a0It may mean sleeping in or lounging in bed with a good book rather than rushing out to run errands. \u00a0It may mean sitting on your porch or deck and watching the sprinkler sprinkle and the grass grow for a bit. \u00a0It could mean staying\u00a0on the beach until after sunset, rather than rushing out to eat dinner at the same time as the rest of the world. \u00a0Or sitting on a bench and watching night fall and the moon rise over your hometown. \u00a0It may even mean a few precious hours home alone to clean or tidy up — or blasting your favorite rock music when there’s no one else around to tell you to turn it down!<\/p>\n

When the world turns up the noise\u00a0— take a hint and schedule some QUIET TIME!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — and share your thoughts in the comments! \u00a0What does QUIET TIME mean to you?!<\/p>\n

7\/31\/15 by Grace Church
\n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

PS: FIVE<\/span>\u00a0WEEKS TO GO<\/span>! \u00a0Our FUN LIST is still growing — keep ’em coming!!!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

– “One Tank Trips”
\n– Surprise trip for spouse or loved one
\n– Kayaking
\n– Beach time
\n– BBQ’s
\n– Tourist for the day in nearby city
\n– Walking the boards
\n– Rock climbing
\n– Scuba diving
\n– Touring an estate
\n– Time with family
\n– Sitting on the porch
\n– Watching for rainbows
\n– Learning to surf
\n– Gardening
\n– Writing a book
\n– Working on a “summer” project
\n– Moving to a new town
\n– Planning a spa day (or half-day, or even lunch hour)
\n– Taking Fridays (or Mondays) off!
\n– Day at the ballpark (Minor League stadiums are great, too!)
\n– Outside concerts\/music events
\n– Hot air balloon ride\/festival
\n– Pool volleyball (a Church-family classic!)
\n– Take yourself or someone you love for ice cream!
\n<\/span>– Weed your front yard garden (and talk with neighbors and folks walking by!)
\n– Lose yourself in wonderful music, either listening or singing
\n–\u00a0Play in the grassy backyard
\n– Play with your dog (or maybe your neighbor’s dog!)
\n<\/span>– Sing karaoke
\n– Explore your town, county, state\u2026through food and drink!
\n– Visit a farm
\n– Make plans to see friends you don\u2019t often get to see (or schedule a gathering!)
\n– Blind-folded Make-overs! \u00a0(Great for a rainy day! \u00a0Bonus points if you go out in public after!)<\/p>\n

(What are we missing? \u00a0Send me your ideas and I’ll add them to the list!)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #46 – Summer Fun Challenge: \u201cQuiet Time!\u201d Greetings Happyness Tribe — and\u00a0welcome to week SEVEN of our Summer Fun Challenge!\u00a0 We (my siblings and I) grew up in a house with \u201cQuiet Time.\u201d \u00a0That meant that after a certain time at night — you simply did not make noise. \u00a0And if you did — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":584,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions\/584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}