It was a rainy evening. We had just finished dinner, and I was so happy to have a quiet moment on the couch, thinking about what to write for this week’s post. My husband was watching golf, and then I heard the announcer say two simple words as he described a golfer at play: “Be present.”
And just like that, I knew what I wanted to write about.
Because lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about being present.
I see the kids heading back to school. YES, I know the days are passing by faster than I am willing to loosen my grip. I know the calendar says August, which means summer is slowly winding down. Even the air feels a little different in the morning.
The other evening, while grilling dinner, my daughter and I watched a pack of geese fly overhead. For a moment, we both felt a little sad. Somehow, their flight felt like a sign that summer was coming to an end.
And really, do the supermarkets have to start displaying Halloween items?
I mean, can we please just stay here for a minute?
It seems like we are always being encouraged to move on to the next thing before we’ve had a chance to fully experience the thing we’re already in. The minute one season begins, we start anticipating the next. We rush through summer thinking about fall, spend fall thinking about the holidays, and before we know it, we’re making plans for the new year.
And somewhere in all that looking ahead, we can miss where we actually are.
I’ve noticed this tendency in myself. I start thinking about what I still want to do before summer is over, the places I haven’t been, the people I haven’t seen, the things I thought I would accomplish.
Suddenly, summer starts to feel like another to-do list.
And isn’t that funny? A season that is supposed to feel carefree can become something we feel we need to get right.
We are constantly told to make the most of everything. Make the most of your vacation. Your weekend. Your health. Your time.
But what if we don’t have to make the most of every season?
What if we just have to be in it?
Looking back, some of my summer days have been full and wonderful. Others have been completely ordinary. There have been days I’ve been out and about and days I’ve stayed home. Days I’ve wanted to be social and days when I’ve wanted nothing more than a quiet day.
None of those days need to justify themselves.
Maybe that’s part of what intuitive living has taught me. We don’t always have to ask what we should be doing. We can pause long enough to notice what we actually want, what we need, and what feels right in the moment.
Maybe that applies to time, too.
We don’t have to squeeze every last bit of summer out of these remaining weeks. We don’t need to create more memories simply because the calendar tells us there aren’t many days left.
We can let some days be slow. We can change our plans. We can do nothing.
We can enjoy what is here without worrying about how quickly it is disappearing.
Because summer will end. Fall will come. And yes, the Halloween candy will somehow find its way onto the shelves whether we are ready for it or not.
But we don’t have to rush there.
Maybe making the most of a season isn’t about doing everything we can before it ends.
Maybe it’s simply about noticing that we’re still in it, and allowing ourselves to be present for it.