The other morning, I caught myself thinking, I can't believe it's August.
For a moment, I felt disappointed. Summer seemed to have flown by, and my mind was already jumping ahead to September. I started thinking about everything I hadn't done yet; the places I still wanted to visit, the people I meant to see, the projects I wanted to finish.
Then I stopped myself.
Why was I already leaving a season I was still living in?
It made me wonder how often we do this, not just with summer, but with life. We rush through breakfast while thinking about lunch. We hurry through Monday waiting for Friday. We count down to vacations while missing the ordinary moments that make up our days. We tell ourselves we'll slow down "after this week" or "when things settle down." But somehow, there's always another season waiting for us.
I see this often in my work with intuitive eating. So many people want to get to the finish line. They want to stop thinking about food, trust their bodies, and finally feel at peace. Learning to listen to your body is a lot like learning to appreciate summer. The more we rush through it, the more we miss what was there all along: a satisfying meal, a deep breath, a walk before the day gets too hot, coffee on the porch, an unexpected conversation with a friend, or simply noticing your body telling you it's had enough or that it needs a little more.
These moments don't ask us to do more. They ask us to notice more.
Our culture celebrates productivity and speed. We're praised for multitasking, planning ahead, and staying busy. But being busy doesn't always mean we're living fully. Sometimes the richest parts of life happen when nothing remarkable is happening at all.
I've been practicing this myself. I am trying hard to become less interested in racing toward what's next and more interested in being present for what's here. Not because I've mastered it, I certainly haven't! But because every time I slow down, I discover something I would have otherwise missed. Yesterday, for the first time, I noticed the tree on my block that I pass by every day. Something made me stop in my tracks as I saw for the first time how it has beautiful flowers all throughout the trunk itself. Maybe that's what intuitive living is really about. Not just trusting our hunger and fullness, but trusting the pace of our own lives.
This week, instead of asking yourself what's next, try asking, What's here? What conversation deserves your full attention? What meal could you truly savor? What sunrise, breeze, laugh, or quiet moment is waiting for you before the season changes again?
Summer will end, just as every season does. But before we rush toward what's next, let's not miss the one we're already living.
If you're finding it difficult to quiet the noise, trust your body, or simply be more present in your own life, I'd love to help. Together we can slow things down, reconnect with what matters most, and create a way of living that feels less rushed and more like you.
After all, life isn't something we're trying to get through. It's something we're meant to experience, one season, one meal, and one moment at a time.