Welcome to edition #3 of The Sunday Best Round Up 😊
Starting off with…
A Summer Solstice Partaaay!
Earlier this week saw the summer solstice where we celebrated the longest day, and shortest night, of the year. I lucked out and enjoyed a moon lit ocean swim at 10pm on Thursday night, then back down again for a 5am beach party in the morning. Must have been about 40 of my fellow cold water swimmers along. There was a roaring fire, croissants, coffee, whisky (for those so inclined), and much sea swimming merriment to be had. The sun came up as a glorious orange ball and the world felt amazing. Much chatting, hugging, eating, drinking, and even a quick game of water Waboba ball.
(For the uninitiated - Wobaba’s are my favourite thing in the world pretty much - they are balls which skim across the water and provide endless fun to me and my mates in the sea. In fact I am liable to do an article at some point on the joy of Wobaba. Something like “Discover How a Group of 50+ aged Men Love Playing Ball in the Ocean, and Acting Like They’re 5 Years Old Again!”
Best Shakespearean Insult of The Week:
For the lolz 😂.
Roughly translates as accusing someone of being an “excessively flattering, lowly, insignificant person”. OUCH Willie-boy that one really hurt!
On This Day in History (Sunday 23rd June 1928):
The first edition of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." by Washington Irving was released in 1819, featuring the story "Rip Van Winkle."
Article I Wrote on Substack This Week:
This week I shared on article on the noble art of rucking. Why it’s one of my daily go to exercises and why it should form a part of everyone’s fitness schedule, in my humble, yet ultimately very biased, opinion 😊: Have you got bricks in that?
A Note I Shared on Substack This week:
By way of explanation I put up 5 notes this week all with 10 new tips for a happier and healthier life. The most popular was the one below:
10 Ways to Get Happier and Healthier:
New Article I’m Writing for Next Week’s Substack:
My new piece comes out June 26th and it’s entitled “50 Things I’ve Learned Aged 50” and it’s the origin piece of the tips I’ve been sharing on Notes all week. It’s all those great tips in one place, plus some fancy pictures, and web-links to further reading and research studies which support my whimsical musings.
NOTE - I am expecting this article to bring the entire inter-webz to a grinding halt. I mean I got 12 Likes on my note above, my highest so far, so Gru-like world domination shortly beckons 😂 😂😂😂😂
(For those over aged about 5, who aren’t clearly as immature as moi, Gru is the villain from the Despicable Me films. )
5 Health and Wellness Articles I Enjoyed on Substack This Week:
1. Embracing the “No Mind”: The Zen Gateway to Creativity and Presence This nice little introductory piece to the concept of no mind, by
, is written in an easy-to-digest style and comes with 8 great practical tips you can use today, for better mental health.2. Ask a Librarian I loved this ode to the librarian by
. Tapped into my vast enjoyment of libraries (I try to visit them whenever I am in a new town) and so if you love a library too give it a read.3. How This Writer Killed His Former Self (Drugs, Jail and Student Loan) and Totally Transformed His Life This is a double whammy of inspirational life story and writing success story, which should appeal to most here on Substack, thanks for sharing this
4. 5 Lessons from the Best Book I’ve Read So Far This Year I enjoyed this succinct piece by
which gives 5 great tips from a book she recently read, to increase our life’s happiness 😊5. Breaking Free from Self-Pity: Five Effective Methods -
shares some great ideas on how to help if you suffer from self-pity at times (and let’s face it 99% of us do, and the other 1% are liars!) Go check it out.I hope you enjoyed today’s little compendium. If you did, please do me a favour and re-stack it, or add a comment below.
To Lazy Sunday Afternoons,
JFT Beach
PS A little extra I’m playing with in the Sunday Best is random recommendations of other media. Today it’s a track called “The Spark” by a bunch of kids from Cork, Ireland, which my daughter has been playing to death. It’s an infectious rap/drum ‘n’ bass number with just so much energy, and super cool Irish accents, it brings all the 😊😊😊😊
Where was the ocean swim? It sounds so fun and so much better than hanging inside a pub watching the Netherlands play 🤣
Thank you so much for the shoutout!!!💕✨