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

Kevin Lowe: The alarm's going off in the morning. You're having to go back to school, do all these things.

Kevin Lowe: And I dreaded it. I hated it.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: And maybe you're feeling the same way. Now, maybe you're not having to return to school, but maybe it's just simply life getting back to normal again.

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

Kevin Lowe: The kids, they've gone back to school.

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

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

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

Kevin Lowe: I do not have a magical pause button nor rewind button.

Kevin Lowe: But what I do have is perspective. And that's what I want to share today.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: Soak up every moment of every day.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: It pertains to your work, to school, to your relationships, to your future.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: This summer, I would like to think that this podcast, that the Summer Shift series, that it meant something to you, that it's something that you look forward to.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

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

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

Kevin Lowe: You started taking a walk every evening. Well, my friend, don't stop.

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

Kevin Lowe: My friend, do more of that.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: My friend, life is not supposed to be boring.

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

Kevin Lowe: I believe life is meant for us to enjoy.

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

Kevin Lowe: And the fact is true is that every season of life, it asks something different from us.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: And that, my friend, is growth. It's not resisting change, but rather embracing what's new.

Kevin Lowe: So, as we get back to life, as the kids go back to school, maybe, heck, maybe you're listening to this and maybe you're going back to school, back to college.

Kevin Lowe: Don't dread tomorrow. Don't dread the alarm.

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

Kevin Lowe: Embrace the new opportunity. Look forward to what is to come.

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

Kevin Lowe: Now, yeah, I agree. I wish summer could last forever.

Kevin Lowe: Just like every time I go on a vacation, I wish it never had to end.

Kevin Lowe: 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?

Kevin Lowe: I've always said, why don't we just reverse that? We should just have to work Saturday, Sunday, have off Monday through Friday.

Kevin Lowe: So when I say I get it, trust me, I get it.

Kevin Lowe: But all of that said, the choice is yours. To do with this new season what you will.

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

Kevin Lowe: Stop looking all the way down the line that you have an entire school year ahead of you. Just focus on tomorrow morning.

Kevin Lowe: Focus on how you're going to win the morning, win the day.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: Maybe you'd go out for a jog.

Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, do that now. Yeah, maybe you've got to get up a little bit earlier than you have to.

Kevin Lowe: Well, my friend, do it. 30 minutes earlier in the big picture, it might just mean everything.

Kevin Lowe: Instead of your alarm going off at 6 a.m., set it for 5.30.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: Set the alarm 30 minutes earlier than you need to.

Kevin Lowe: Make yourself get up, fix that cup of coffee, Grab your book and keep reading.

Kevin Lowe: Again, we don't have to leave behind what we've enjoyed. We can adapt.

Kevin Lowe: We can adjust. And we can bring it with us into this new season.

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's taking that evening walk. Maybe it was catching up with your friends every weekend.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: Whatever it is, don't just hope that it sticks. More importantly, don't wish that it could return.

Kevin Lowe: Because, my friend, it can.

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

Kevin Lowe: So even though you can't go to the pool at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, no.

Kevin Lowe: But you know what? In the evening, when you're home from work, from school, go then.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, you've got homework. You've got things that have to be done. And I get it.

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

Kevin Lowe: It's not just reserved for when we're on summer vacation. It's meant for all the time.

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

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

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

Kevin Lowe: 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.

Kevin Lowe: From the springs to the shore You know that heat don't quit Summer's our song I'm wasting singing it