Today is the last day of August, tomorrow brings September, I have to say over the last week or so the nights have been drawing in and it is becoming clear that the Summer is now drawing to a close. As I’m writing this I must confess to have been suffering a little with the end of Summer holiday blues; that feeling that you just don’t want it to come to an end and wish that every day could be filled with lazy mornings, free from structure and that the day ahead is yours to fill in exactly the way you want to fill it!
For me this time of year is always a little like a double edged sword, in a positive way and not in a traditional sense, I may add. I think it’s all the years of being at school, college and then University when this time of year marked the beginning of a new start, a new term and in some ways a new journey. So whilst at this time of year there may be the end of the Summer, it always brought with it the fresh, exciting opportunity of a new start. It has a double quality to it, because the new ‘term’ in a way provided a marker in the sand, a time of year that I could reference and reflect on how far I had come, what I had achieved and what I had experienced. Together these two combined always provide for me a special kind of motivation of aspiration for the future with knowledge of the lessons of the past.
However, I am aware that for many this can be a tricky time, a time when there may be feelings that the Summer is over, that there is only the miserable Winter to look forward to, that months have been wasted and that the year is nearly done, what is the point of starting over again, when there is simply no time left. I find it fascinating how the same point in time can be approached in two completely different ways, one provides motivation, the other almost desperation and deflation so which is true, which is reality?
Well of course the simple answer is both and none! How we feel about the 31st August or the 1st of September is entirely up to us, the thoughts we have are merely like pieces of coloured paper that we use to make up a collage – we both may have the same picture to colour in but how it looks at the end will depend on the colours that we choose to use. The truth is that I don’t know how the year is going to pan out, so any thoughts that I have about it being a new start, or a fantastic opportunity or even that it’s too late are simply thoughts, they can’t tell me anything about the future at all or how late it really is. But what I do know is that if I feel calm, happy, energised and motivated and I engage more with the thinking that supports this rather than with those that take it away, the more likely it is that I will see opportunities, I will achieve more and I will enjoy the journey so much more!
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