Got the End-of-Summer Blues? Why Not Bring the Best Parts of Summer with You?

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SPEAKER_01: The return to normal.

Whether it was at the end of summer vacation as a kid, whether it was the end of an amazing trip, or heck, even just the end of a long weekend.

That feeling of returning to the normal, to the everyday grind.

I hated it.

And as a kid, especially, returning to school after summer, it was the absolute worst.

Summer vacation, it was fun.

It was free, free of responsibility, free of having to go to dreaded school.

And yet, there, sure enough, before you knew it, summer was over.

And you're back in the grind.

The alarms going off in the morning.

You're having to go back to school, do all these things.

And I dreaded it.

I hated it.

Matter of fact, there was a lot of times that as soon as school got out, I was already dreading the idea that I would have to return.

And I can't help but think here we are at the end of the summer vacation season.

And maybe you're feeling the same way.

No, maybe you're not having to return to school, but maybe it's just simply life getting back to normal again.

It's back to the normal everyday routines of life.

The kids, they've gone back to school.

You're back into sports, all the activities after school for the kids, all the things.

And I can't help but think that maybe you're wishing you could just hit the rewind button.

Well, my friend, I certainly do not have a magical answer for you.

I do not have a magical pause button nor rewind button.

But what I do have is perspective.

And that's what I want to share today.

And since I said nobody really likes to say goodbye, nobody wants the good stuff to end.

Well, that's why I'm releasing today as a bonus episode to our summer shift series.

Last week concluded the official 12-week summer shift, but today is just one last opportunity for us to spend a little time together enjoying what is left of summer.

In case you're new around here, well, I want to welcome you to Great Grace and Inspiration.

Today is episode 460, and it is, as I said, our bonus to our summer shift series.

Now, who am I?

Well, I am your host, Kevin Lowe, a guy who's on a mission to do what I can to inspire you to love life, to live bigger, to soak up every moment of every day.

Whether or not we're in the summer vacation season or back in the normal everyday monotony of life, I just want to be here to inspire you, to motivate you, to encourage you to take advantage of every single moment you're given, because you never know what tomorrow will hold.

Today, my friend, we're focusing on what was the summer and what is about to be the new season, the fall season.

And what I want you to understand is that throughout this summer shift series, I hope that you have realized that all the shifts we've been making didn't actually pertain to summer, but instead they pertain to your entire life, not just the summer.

They pertain to the fall, the winter, the spring, all the seasons, all the years.

And my friend, that is why today we're going to make probably the biggest shift of all of shifting from summer into the fall, back into normalcy, but taking with us everything that we've learned.

Every shift that we've made this summer, it pertains to you personally.

It pertains to your work, to school, to your relationships, to your future.

So today, I want to inspire you to not mourn over what we're losing, but instead to be inspired of what you've gained and to use it to make tomorrow even better.

This summer, I would like to think that this podcast, that the SummerShift series, that it meant something to you, that it's something that you look forward to.

But chances are is that you had bigger and better things that you did this summer that you remember.

The summer vacations, the amazing late nights spent at the pool, all the fun camping trips and campfires and s'mores and all the good stuff that we all love about summer.

And what I want you to do is not forget about any of that, but instead use what summer gave you.

Because maybe over the summer it reminded you just how important family and friends really are.

Maybe it reminded you of how much you actually enjoy getting out.

You started taking a walk every evening.

Well, my friend, don't stop.

Or maybe summer was an opportunity for you to stop scrolling and start living.

My friend, do more of that.

You may have to be packing away the beach towels and the flip-flops, the frisbees and the floats, but don't pack away all that you've done, all that you've learned, the insights that you've gained about what it's like to live, to love, to laugh.

My friend, life is not supposed to be boring.

It's not supposed to be some never-ending monotony.

I believe life is meant for us to enjoy.

So I encourage you to bring what you've gained into this next season.

And the fact is true is that every season of life asks something different from us.

And we can either stay stuck wishing we could go back, or instead, we can become the person that the next season of life requires us to be.

And that, my friend, is growth.

It's not resisting change, but rather embracing what's new.

Back to college.

Don't dread tomorrow.

Don't dread the alarm.

Don't get so focused on these little things that it steals away the joy from what it is.

Embrace the new opportunity.

Look forward to what is to come.

This season is yours to do with it as you wish.

Now, yeah, I agree.

I wish summer could last forever.

Just like every time I go on a vacation.

I wish it never had to end.

Heck, I've been infamous for saying that in general, who was the person who came up with the idea that we have to work and go to school Monday through Friday and only have off Saturday and Sunday?

I've always said, why don't we just reverse that?

We should just have to work Saturday, Sunday, have off Monday through Friday.

So when I say I get it, trust me, I get it.

But all of that said, the choice is yours to do with this new season what you will.

So, practical advice as you enter into this new season, don't focus on such a big picture.

Stop looking all the way down the line that you have an entire school year ahead of you.

Just focus on tomorrow morning.

Focus on how you're going to win the morning.

Win the day.

If you did something throughout the summer that you enjoyed, bring it with you.

Maybe every day you made it a practice to get up and do some stretches, did a little yoga.

Maybe you'd go out for a jog.

Well, my friend, do that now.

Yeah, maybe you've got to get up a little bit earlier than you have to.

Well, my friend, do it.

30 minutes earlier in the big picture, it might just mean everything.

Instead of your alarm going off at 6 a.m., set it for 5:30.

Enough time for you to still do that exercise regimen that you've been doing all summer.

Or maybe it was a slower pace.

Maybe you started reading.

And every morning you'd start out the day with a cup of coffee and a book.

Again, you don't have to stop that just because now you have an alarm clock waking you up.

Set the alarm 30 minutes earlier than you need to.

Make yourself get up, fix that cup of coffee, grab your book and keep reading.

Again, we don't have to leave behind what we've enjoyed.

We can adapt, we can adjust, and we can bring it with us into this new season.

So, all of this to said, your last and final challenge, the final shift I want you to make for this bonus episode in our summer shift series is quite simple.

Tonight, before you go to bed, I want you to ask yourself one simple question.

What is one thing from this summer, one habit that deserves a permanent place in my life?

Maybe it's taking that evening walk.

Maybe it was catching up with your friends every weekend.

Maybe it was exercising each morning, just grabbing out the dumbbells from underneath the bed, doing a few exercises.

And over the last three months, you've actually got some defined bicep muscles.

Whatever it is, don't just hope that it sticks.

More importantly, don't wish that it could return.

Because, my friend, it can.

Sometimes we just have to adapt things to meet the realities of today.

So even though you can't go to the pool at 10 a.m.

on a Tuesday, no, but you know what?

In the evening, when you're home from work, from school, go then.

Yeah, you've got homework, you've got things that have to be done.

And I get it.

But at the same point, I don't want you to forget what it really means to live, to love, to enjoy life.

It's not just reserved for when we're on summer vacation.

It's meant for all the time.

So, my friend, that's what I want to leave you with today.

As your final summer shift is to take what you've learned, to take what you've gained, and adapt it into life today.

My friend, summer is over.

The fall is back in style.

Before we know it, pumpkin spice is going to be filling our cups again.

Cooler weather will return all the beautiful parts of the fall season.

So don't mourn the loss of summer.

Instead, let us embrace the start of a brand new season.

Until next week, I am your host, Kevin Lowe, and this, of course, was another episode of Grit Grace and Inspiration.