(This blog was originally posted on June 1, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Sara R. Fogan |
It
is July third—“officially” summertime and the weather in some parts of southern
California has already been hitting the century mark for the past couple of couple
of weeks. School is out and people are heading to the beach or other summertime
destination for vacation. American Pharoah
won the Belmont Stakes on June 6 to become the first Triple Crown winner in
thirty-seven years. Although most of my favorite television programs are now on
summer hiatus, at least there is still Shark Week on the
Discovery Channel to look forward to starting on Sunday.
Although
summer isn’t my favorite time of year, I do appreciate it for the symbolic
respite that this season offers. As the weather heats up, time seems to slow
down to the pace of thick molasses. This is the season of slathering on sunscreen,
sipping iced-tea by the pool and reading a novel under the shade of a tree (or
beach umbrella). Now that the school year is over—or just about over—many
people will start their exodus out of town to enjoy a couple of well-deserved
weeks of rest and relaxation with their families. Some will hang out at the
beach or in the local mountains. Others may go to visit relatives or amusement
parks in a different city or state or even travel to a foreign country. This is
when we can dig into those projects around the house that we have been putting
off doing earlier in the year. Or… not.
It
is more traditional to reflect on what we have done during the year, at the end of the year. But consider this:
there is really no time to say something to or do something with someone during
the last few hours of the last night of the year. However, the beginning of summer
is an ideal time to take stock of our accomplishments and any goals we have not
achieved because we still have six more months in which to make any desired
changes in our lives. This is the time when we are more likely to be relaxed
and to have the time to at least lay down the foundations for making that
desired change. Yes, Summer time is an opportunity to recharge our emotional,
physical and psychological batteries so we can be in a more productive frame of
mind to reinforce those behaviors that will help us realize our goals. But this
is also a great time to start making those changes so we can feel good about
having already said and done a lot of the things we set out to do at the
beginning of the year.
© 2015
