The Inevitable Summer
Summer’s here! And so much going on!
For one, I have an incoming high school senior, and you know that means college visits and a boatload of applications to check. (I have a very ambitious seventeen year old, who wants to change the world) And as if there’s nothing else going on in my life, we threw in moving to a new home while placing our old home on the market into the mix! It’s a plan that’s taking place one year too soon – but we found the perfect house on the lake and just couldn’t pass it up. It was supposed to be our downsizing strategy (since in 2019 we will be empty nesters) – and instead, we are shuttling back and forth on weekends, moving, decorating and renovating at the same time.
Such is life, I guess. Becoming a vacation homeowner is both stressful and exciting. Watching my husband in pure unadulterated bliss, enjoying his backyard grill and taking walks on the beach makes it all worth it. It also goes well with my philosophy of continuously taking the leap. Never turning my back on opportunities that come along. Sometimes good decisions become bad decisions, but turning them back into good ones is what makes life such an interesting ride.
But, I digress.
No matter how busy life gets during this season, we all seem to welcome it with open arms. Sure, we all find ourselves running at full speed – the kids are home from school, we’re catching up on chores and the outside work we set aside when the weather kept us indoors. The sun is shining, we feel light and energized. The days are longer, and for some reason, it’s as if the hours have extended beyond their limits and we are given the gift of time. What’s more, is that we eventually forget about the cold, snowy winter days that just passed. We forget that we were once in the dark, wading through all that muck, moving in slow motion, exhausted, depleted. For months, we remained in a funk, our loneliness highlighted by the fact that no one wants to venture out in the cold.
And then slowly, the leaves begin to grow and the blossoms fly though the air as a sign of new life. We all come out into the open, embracing what was worth waiting for and walking away from what was not. We journey through life like the seasons.
Summer always manages to bring us back.
Sometimes it is dull and full of rain, sometimes it is scorching and hot. But if we learn to adapt – to dance in the rain and protect ourselves from the heat – summer is still summer – and the rays of its light will always lift us out of the dark.
Enjoy this season.
Arm yourself with the warmth, the love, the energy and the hope of the sun. Remind yourself that every journey ends with this – no matter how long it takes and how distant it may seem.