For a lot of you the kids have gone back to school, vacation time is done and you are settling into some sort of normalcy with your job. It’s “back to the grind” more than one mom and dad told me today in the school yard with gloom in their voice.
Can you see how this one word “grind” can influence their lives? How upon uttering its one syllable it creates their mindset. Therefore I would guess for the summer months they had no real grind. Their routine changed and they lived life a bit more freely. More time was spent taking days off here and there for extended cottage weekends.
When I ask ‘how was your summer’ some answers I get back are the most interesting travels and family bonding moments I hear. I watch as their recollection of stories brings them sheer joy and the intensity of their words paints the pictures clearly in my mind.
There was no stress, just chill time – some absolutely ‘had to be there’ moments and then, it all changes. September hits and everyone retreats…they believe the ‘grind’ and routine of whatever it is they do is reality when what they had experienced only days earlier was their passion and reality. For all of us, it is different but I can sure bet you were in suspended animation for those surreal moments of freedom.
How much time have you spent creating a future that holds MORE of this sort of lifestyle? The ‘grind’ doesn’t have to be routine for you – you can change it. The less I said “I WISH I could do more of this” the more ACTION I took in order to DO IT. Today I didn’t have to move a meeting around or ask to come in late…I was able to enjoy seeing my children enter a new school year and go back home to await their arrival for lunch time – this is how blessed I am because of my investment choices.
Today our children are examples. They are stepping out of their comfort zone whether they know it or not. They are taking ACTION moving forward into the unknown facing challenges that will propel them forward. They will make mistakes and learn from them. A year from now, they will do it all over again but they will already be different people by choosing action.
To them I salute, for how they are living is what we need to employ in our own lives. Each year they adapt to new environments, new friends and are thrown loads of knowledge for which they must absorb quickly. Our stress and ‘grind’ is nothing compared to what they endure.
So think about how you lived this summer and what you were able to give your family. The choice of doing that for only a couple vacation weeks every summer or doing it full time is yours. I’m sure you know which one I chose.