Make Summer Last Forever: Get Inspired with 3 Unique Ways to Preserve Your Summer Memories

And I couldn't help but think that maybe you're feeling like this about the summer.

And that's why today, inside of episode 308, I'm gonna help you to make those summer memories last a little bit longer.

If that sounds good to you, well, I'll see you inside.

SPEAKER_00: Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life?

Because those bad days, they're just doors to better days.

And that's exactly what we do here at Grit Race and Inspiration.

Your host, Kevin Lowe.

He's been flipping the script on his own life, turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight up inspiration, motivation, and encouragement just for you.

So kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

SPEAKER_01: You know the memory?

You think about it all the time.

It was a campfire with friends.

It was a lazy day by the pool or chilling out at the beach.

It was lazy days, days when they lasted a little bit longer, days when the mood felt a little bit different.

And these are the moments, these are the days that you just wish you could hit the pause button on life.

And obviously, these are the moments that make summer so exciting.

It's what makes us all look forward to the summer season so much.

But here's the question: How often do we really sit down and take the time to reflect on the season, to reflect on the summer, what you did, what you loved, what exciting things did you get accomplished before being ready to move on to the next thing?

Yes, today we are diving into the power of taking a pause, sitting down and letting yourself reflect on the season, the summer, the vacations that you've had, the memories that you've made.

The fact is true is we live in a society today that's always focused forward, always on what's next, anticipating the next thing that we're about to do.

But you can't help but wonder if we're in that type of forward-focused mindset, maybe we don't really take the time to appreciate the present or to give attention to yesterday.

As I dive into the tactics for today's topic, I want you to realize this.

I'm speaking about summer because, well, that's the season that we're coming to a close on.

But this is applicable for any season or time period in your life.

And so it's like this.

My promise to you is by the end of today's episode, if you stick around, you're gonna walk away with three fun, unusual, different ways to capture the memories, to make the most of the summer, to make it just all last a little bit longer.

My first idea for you is have you ever done a scrapbook?

Now, I know maybe that sounds like totally old school, way too much work, but think about it.

Have you taken the time to empty out your suitcase?

I'm not just talking about the dirty clothes, I'm talking about all the little knick-knacks, the little tokens, the receipts, the pictures, the souvenirs that you bought on vacation?

Or what about all the other things just in your pocket?

The shell you picked up from the beach, the cool pair of flip-flops you got while you were on vacation.

All these little things, if you collect them together and the things that can fit and make it work, why not keep them in a place to remember them?

Maybe you don't have to do a traditional scrapbook while you're gluing stuff to pages, but what if you maybe put it all in just an old shoebox?

Memories, label it and date it.

Memories of summer 2024.

That way, when you're later on in the year, you're dead in the heart of winter, and you're kind of having the blues, wishing for some brighter days.

Well, maybe you can just pull out that old shoebox and take yourself right back to the memories of summer.

And I definitely encourage you with this, is it's not just something for you.

Get the whole family involved.

If you're somebody with children, we'll get them involved.

Have everybody be sure that they go to their rooms and pull out stuff that was from the trip, stuff that maybe they forgot about, little stuff, stuff that at the moment seems meaningless.

But in a year, when you look back, oh my gosh, it just brings about all these amazing memories of the summer that you had.

My next idea for you is something also a little bit different.

Typically, people would tell you maybe to start a journal, but I'm going to instead say, let's ditch the traditional journal.

And instead, how about an audio journal?

How about you taking time out of your day to go on a walk?

And while you're walking, think about the memories of this summer.

What was your favorite vacation you took?

What was your favorite weekend?

Was it time with friends at a pool party?

Was it at the beach trying out surfing?

What was it?

And while you're thinking about it, why not record it?

On all of our phones, we all have these literal computers that we walk around with.

You can record a voice note.

Now, you may think at first, oh my gosh, this sounds way weird.

I'm not gonna walk around talking out loud, recording into my recorder.

Well, maybe if you live somewhere where people are around, maybe don't do it while you're walking.

Maybe it's something you just want to do at home.

All I'm here to say is that the idea of doing a journal, sitting down and writing, it can sometimes just be a little bit overwhelming.

But for you to literally just pull out your phone and start talking, you're much more likely to do it.

And I feel like it's just a really awesome way to capture the memories.

What's really cool is, again, if you have a family or just a partner, why don't you both do it?

Different times, bust it out, and capture the moment as you're all reminiscing on your favorite memories from the summer.

That is something that's going to be really amazing to get to come back to later on.

So, my first idea was of course for you to do a scrapbook in whichever way you want to do one, whether traditional sense or doing something more like putting items in a little shoebox, something that you can go back to and pull out the stuff, look at the pictures, feel the seashells, whatever it is.

And then, of course, the next idea I had for you was to do an audio journal.

Journaling in the audio sense, something way easier, not stressful, and just a great way to capture some amazing memories where you can really hear the emotion, remind yourself of how excited you felt.

For my third idea for you, my third and final idea is for you to just literally steal a moment to just let yourself be, to let yourself sit and think.

Maybe it's early in the morning before the rest of the world wakes up, and it's just you and a cup of coffee and you sit down in the living room.

Instead of pulling out your phone and scrolling through Facebook, why not instead just allowing yourself to take a few minutes to think about things?

To think about this summer, to think about this season.

What did you love?

What were your favorite memories?

Was it the sight of your kids smiling and laughing while they were running in the waves?

Was it the sight of your partner out trying to wakeboard behind the boat on the lake?

Or was it you just sitting and sunbathing next to the swimming pool while everybody else was swimming and splashing?

You were just enjoying a little time to relax.

Whatever it is, just let yourself think about it.

Again, we're so focused on what's next.

We always want to know where are we going next?

What are we going to do next?

But this is just an opportunity for you to give space for what you've already done to make it last a little bit longer.

Because that's the powerful thing about memories.

We can go back to them anytime we want, but we have to remember them.

And the more you remember them, the more you make a point to remember these memories, the more they're going to stick with you.

And, you know, the whole point of it all is the fact that reflecting back on our memories, it's not just something fun.

It's not just something silly or whatever you want to think of it.

It's actually really powerful for our future.

If you think about it, think about a football team.

After they finish playing, they go back into the locker room and what do they do?

They watch a replay of the game.

They see all the plays that they made.

They figure out how they can improve.

They see what they did right, what they loved about the game, or maybe where they messed up and where they need to improve.

Well, maybe it's the same for you.

Maybe there's some things that you think about with your summer that maybe didn't quite go as planned, or that just weren't as fun as you thought they would be.

Or maybe it was opportunities that you didn't take, that you wish you would have done more.

Well, use this as an opportunity to realize that, hey, I can make a change next summer.

That is the power of this whole exercise.

You get to think about it, you get to remember the good times, and you get to use all those memories for good for the future.

So, my friend, I leave you with this.

I understand that sometimes we just wish we could put a pause button on life.

We wish we could stop it all right in the moment.

But unfortunately, we can't.

But what we can do is we can keep the memory alive by going back to it, by remembering it.

So whether you're creating a scrapbook, putting tokens in a shoebox, or recording your thoughts on your phone, whatever you want to do, just take the time to do it, to make the most of this moment by making the most of the summit.

Until next time, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.

And this, of course, is Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.