The Summer Your Soul Is Asking For (+ 9 Ways to Say No)
“Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.” -Pablo Neruda
Recently after my forest-based morning workout, my friend Laura asked me to join her and her kids to pick strawberries. Thinking of the mountains of emails and work contracts that awaited me and before, “No, I have to get to my office,” could come out of my mouth, I paused. I’m really intent on embracing a magical, slower, more sensual summer and what better way to do this than to stroll through fragrant, bountiful strawberry bushes picking and snacking on one of the season’s most delicious gifts? The answer was, “Yes!” For me, this choice represented the summer my soul desires. What’s your intention for summer 2026?
Perhaps you’re overextended and craving unscheduled time to do nothing? Or, are you being called to learn a new skill? Or if you’re exhausted, you may need to pull out your calendar and block out periods for deep rest and relaxation in nature? We’re living in a time of the unknown and navigating constant chaos and uncertainty. But, that doesn’t mean our self-care has to get shelved. Pause for a moment and think about how you want to experience this summer.
If you’ve ever woken up on Labor Day and realized your summer went way too fast and was not truly replenishing, you know how key it is to enter this magical time with purpose and intention.
One of the most popular tools from my life balance book, The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life, is the “Nine Ways to Say No” list from my chapter on Managing Your Energy. We have a finite amount of energy. And our energy—our life force—is precious. In addition to often over-committing, most of us waste a lot of energy through overwork, endless hours on screens or engaging in activities that don’t truly feed us.
When we say “no” to the “shoulds” and those things that are non-essential—we can say “yes” to what matters most. Learning to say “no” is like weight lifting—the more you practice saying it, the stronger you become. Here’s support and my nine creative ways to say “no”!
This summer, my theme is reflection and I plan to go offline for chunks of time so I can deep dive into writing, reading, crafting songs and poetry, swimming, growing herbs and vegetables, cooking peach desserts galore and taking long meandering walks by the lake.
As you look at your summer months and consider a new work, family, volunteer project or commitment, before you commit, check in and ask, “What is my heart’s greatest desire this summer … and what do I most need?” Taped to my laptop is my favorite quote from German poet Goethe: “Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
Warmly ~
READY TO LIVE MORE INTENTIONALLY? HERE ARE FOUR OPPORTUNITIES:
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Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by transformational coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women live more intentionally and find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, AARP, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of several books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. Renee and her husband live in Western North Carolina and they have one son in New York City. Her latest venture is Wild Souls Nature Adventures. More on Renee here.
