“Then followed that beautiful season…
Summer…
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape lay
as if new created
in all the freshness of childhood.”
——Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“然后是那个美丽的季节
夏天
空气中充满了梦幻有魔力的光
美景铺陈开来
好像所有童年的新鲜里
又有新鲜被创造出来 ”
——美国诗人亨利·沃兹沃思·朗费罗

Today I’d like to share 10 small and simple tips that you can use to create a happier summer – and rest of the year – for yourself.
今天我想分享10个简单的小贴士，让你的夏天、还有今年剩下的时间，都更快乐。

1. Go slow.
放慢节奏

You’ll be less stressed and you’ll enjoy all the smells, the sights and people in your summer even more. So slow down a bit and use all your senses to tap into what is happening in this moment around you and inside of you.
在夏天，你会觉得压力变小，你会更喜欢夏天所有的味道、风景和人。所以把节奏放慢一点，用你所有的感官去碰触此时你周围和你自身发生的事。

2. Say yes to the new.
对新事物说YES

Go for something new. Expand your comfort zone in a small way. Or a bigger one.
去体验新事物。把自己的舒适区域适当扩大一点。

Go somewhere you haven’t been before. Take up a new hobby. Read a book or try eating something or doing something that isn’t what the regular you would do.
去一个你从没去过的地方。培养一个新的爱好。读一本书，或者试着吃一些没吃过的东西，做一些你通常不会做的事情。

Few things add happiness so simply as finding a new thing you enjoy or may even love does.
一点小事就可以很简单地增加幸福感，比如发现一件你喜欢的新事物，或者恋爱就可以了。

3. Say no to the shoulds of the summer.
对那些夏天必做的事情说NO

The sneaky shoulds can make a vacation filled with things you “just have to do before the summer is over” seem like draining work and leave you more tired than you were before your time off even started.
那些讨厌的“夏日必做”会让假期充满了“在夏天结束前必须做”的事情，好像会耽误工作，而且会让你比夏天开始前更疲倦。

So ask yourself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 months?
所以问问你自己：这些事在5年内重要吗？5个月呢？

Zooming out like this makes it easier to see the real value of doing something. And it makes it easier to simply relax and to say no to doing something because you realize that it isn’t that important anyway.
像这样缩小“必做”范围会更容易看清楚做某件事的真正价值，也更容易放松自己，对做某件事说NO，因为你知道它并没有那么重要。

4. Just do nothing at all.
什么也不做

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all time have to be booked up for some activity.
我们很容易陷入一个误区：认为所有的时间都应该安排一些活动。

Humans are however not robots and so that often leads to more stress and to little of the recharging that could have helped you to keep doing quality work during the fall and winter being done.
然而，人类并不是机器人，所以这通常会导致更大的压力，而且不愿意让自己休息，而这种休息本可以帮你在秋季和冬季保持更有质量的工作。

So try doing nothing at all. Just go for a walk in the woods. Sit by a lake or the ocean and take in your world. Lie down on the green grass and look up at the clouds going by. Focus on just that with all your senses and let your mind and body relax and rejuvenate.
所以试着什么都不做。只是去树林里散散步。在湖边或者海边坐坐，然后回到你的世界。躺在青草地上，看着头顶上的云飘过。动用你全部的感官，专注于这些事上。让你的身心都得到放松和恢复。

5. Be the summer you want to see.
打造你想要的夏天

Arrange a party or a picnic. Set up a movie night when the summer rain is pouring outside. Take a walk or a run every warm morning to get your energy levels up.
准备一次聚会或者野餐。外面如果大雨倾盆就安排一场电影之夜。每天早晨散步或者跑步，让你更加充满能量。

6. Be kind in small ways.
做些小的善行

One of the simplest ways to live a happier life is to focus on being kind. It does rarely take much energy. Just a simple compliment or lending a listening ear while someone vents can brighten someone’s day.
想要活得开心，最简单的办法之一就是专注于行善。这并不需要花费多大力气。一句简单的赞美，或者当他人需要倾诉时洗耳恭听，就可以让他人一天都很开心。

And it brings happiness to your life too as your see other person’s face light up. And how you think about and behave towards others tends to spread to how you treat yourself too. More kindness towards others leads to more self-kindness.
当你看到他人开心的脸时，快乐也会进入你的生活。你如何看待和对待他人也会影响到你如何对待自己。对他人更加友好也会让你更加善待自己。

7. Savor the summer moments right here instead of being lost in the future or past.
尽情享受此刻的夏日时光，而不要担心未来或沉湎过去

There will be moments this summer you won’t want to miss by being somewhere else in your head. So decide that you will take the time and focus to savor the small moments like a melting ice-cream in the sun but also the bigger ones with the people closest to you.
今年夏天有一些时刻你绝对不想因为脑子里想着别的事而错过。所以下定决心，把时间专注于享受一些小时刻，比如阳光下正在融化的冰淇淋，当然也要和你亲近的人一起度过一些重要时刻。

8. Ask yourself what you can be grateful for so far this year.
问问自己，今年到目前为止有哪些值得感谢的事情

The past 6 months may zipped by fast, they sure did for me at least. So the summer vacation can – just like the vacation around New Year’s Eve – be a good time to take a few extra, small pauses and to look back and ask yourself:
过去的6个月走得很快，至少对我来说是这样。所以暑假——就好像新年前夜的假期一样——是个停下来回头看看的好时间，你可以问问自己：

What can I be grateful for in my life so far this year? And don’t forget to express your gratitude to the people in your life.
今年到目前为止我的生活中哪些值得感谢？别忘了向那些出现在你生活中的人表达你的感谢。

9. Just accept how you feel instead of pushing it away.
认可自己的感受，不要强行改变

Don’t fall into the trap of pushing how you deep down feel or think away with distractions or forced positive thinking.
不要陷入误区，去强行改变你心底的感受，或者转移注意力，或者强迫自己积极地思考。

Instead, if you have negative feelings or thoughts about something that have popped up again and again so far this year take some time for yourself or with someone close to you to think/talk about it. Then later on, after you have accepted and processed how you truly feel and think sit down with a pen and paper.
相反，如果你有一些负面的感觉或者想法，而且这件事从今年开始一再出现在你头脑中，你应该给自己留些时间，或者和某个亲近的人谈谈。之后，当你已经接受并且消化了自己的真实感受和想法，坐下来，拿起纸和笔。

Come up with one small step or a small plan that you can take action on to start moving yourself out the situation that is troubling you and into something better. And take action on that plan with just a first small step forward as soon as you can.
想一个简单的小步骤或者小计划，让你采取行动，开始把自己从这个困扰你的局面中拉出来，让事情得到好转。一旦你可以，执行这个计划，只需要前进一小步就可以。

10. Spend more time doing what you love.
花更多时间做你喜欢的事

Maybe it is reading books. Or fishing. Or painting. Or playing with your kids or hanging out with an old friend. Also think about how you can fit more of whatever that is into the rest of your year too.
也许是读书，或者是钓鱼，或者是绘画，或者是和你的孩子一起玩耍，或者是和一个老朋友一起外出。也想想你如何利用今年剩下的时间做这些事情。

Sit down with a pen and paper and think about what you spend your time on during a normal week. Find one or two things during your regular weeks that you can do less of or simply say no to so that you have a bit more time and energy over each week during the fall and winter for this thing you love.
坐下来，拿起纸笔，想想你一周通常是怎样度过的。在你每周的日常安排中找一两件你可以少做或者不做的事情，这样你在秋季和冬季时就有更多的时间和精力做你喜欢的事情。