I think the first step toward solving a problem is to acknowledge there is one.
That’s what I did last year as I stayed inside the air conditioning nearly the entire summer for the second straight year. When I moved here, I knew there would be an adjustment to a different climate. But I just had on idea how tough it would be for me to deal with the summer heat and humidity. It’s unlike anything that I have ever experienced before. And the way I was dealing with it really wasn’t healthy and it was costing me a ton of money. I seriously was going from the zone controlled HVAC of the office to the air conditioning of my home. I wasn’t getting outside for exercise or even to just get some fresh air. The only time I was outside was to get in the car or retrieve the mail. And getting the mail was awful because it included these utility bills that were crippling my budget. So, I decided to talk with a native of this region to see if I could figure out how better to deal with my problem. The first thing she suggested was simple acceptance. One of the big problems I was having was that I feared the heat and humidity because it was so intense. But generally, that’s only during the peak heating hours of the day. My friend helped me figure out that mornings are lovely as are the late evenings. And she helped me not go right for the thermostat in the spring as the temps begin to rise. And all of this has made this a much more pleasurable and affordable summer indeed.