If the smell of sunscreen is making you nauseous and your flip-flops have blown out beyond repair, don’t worry. You are not alone. I don’t know about you, but once August rolls around, I feel all summer sizzled out. In fact, I am probably a poster child for the Summer Fizzled Out Federation (Not sure that’s a thing, but it should be). It’s been weeks since I’ve posted. Proof positive that my summer craziness has led to a depletion in my ability to put thoughts into words and words into posts. (I just took me 7 tries to type that sentence.)
After three months of working cattle, baling hay, raising fair hogs, coaching baseball, squeezing in doctor appointments, making Bar-b-ques, planning playdates, watering plants, and applying sunscreen, I’m feeling about as withered as the last of my tomato plants. When I talk to other people about how their summer is going, they all seem to voice the same end-of-summer exhaustion.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say they are ready for their kids to go back to school. Those dollars would add up to enough money for an end-of-summer vacation for my family. If I had a dollar for every time one of my kids said they don’t want to go back to school, I would have money for a vacation to Europe and a new car.
Why is it that once we’ve successfully navigated swimming lessons, baseball bleacher-butt, sun burns, mosquito bite madness, garden vegetables coming out of our ears, and lawn mowing lunacy that we have the desire to move away from summer and all its Go-Go-Go glory?
It’s because the fizzle of summer’s sizzle has begun, and that’s okay.
Since the earliest of human civilization, people have been creatures who need to move. The first tribes relocated because of weather and migrating animals. As cities developed and nations formed, people traveled for education, trade, and war. Today, we feel the pull to move because we have reaped the benefits of a season and crave changes that will propel us on to new adventures.
In spite of our nomadic tendencies, we can’t just walk away from the opportunities left in the remaining days of summer. We most definitely shouldn’t wish our time away, but it’s okay to acknowledge our readiness for what’s coming next.
If you feel all fizzled out, take inventory of the adventures you experienced so far this summer. Celebrate the cool things you accomplished, saw, or did. Be grateful for the good food, laughs, and lessons learned as you enjoyed the longest, sunlit days of the year. It’s okay to stop trying to fit too much into your schedule and make one or two summer-centered activities your focus. It will mean more if you dedicate your energy to a single swim session or individual ice cream social. Allow yourself time to make the season sizzle with a little less heat and slow down the over-scheduling.
Let your Intentergy be charged with energy enjoying simpler pleasures as the sunsets come earlier and the temperatures (hopefully) start to lower sooner. Don’t feel alone in your fizzle. Summer has been a hot and busy season. Remember, you come from a long line of folks who move forward, and you’ve got the opportunity now to make the most of these waning days of warm weather and summer success.
By: Melanie A. Peters
P.S. I am proud to report only 1 sunburn for myself this summer.
P.P.S. I LOVE fall!
Intentergy 