“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!”
Summer is absolutely 100% my favorite season, I think because it is the farthest from winter and I love the heat. Growing up in England we never knew if it was going to be warm or not, we could pretty much guarantee that rain was in the not too distant future, and we could hardly ever plan barbecues or other outside activities without a backup plan!
So, here in Utah, when summer arrives, and we can settle into long months of high temperatures and sunny days I feel most happy. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t find happiness in other seasons. Even in the winter I can find positive things and that is the theme of today’s post.
Fall is just around the corner, and there are definitely some things I love and appreciate about the fall, so those are the things I choose to focus on when the very real prospect of summer ending hits me. Here are just a few things I look forward to in the fall:
Changing my wardrobe – I become very bored of wearing the same things and by the end of summer I am ready for new colors and layers.
Jeans – yes, these can be worn in any season, but after scorching days, a fall day wearing jeans is so much more pleasant.
Leather – one of my favorite things to wear in fall and winter. It’s definitely too hot for the summer, so by the time fall is here I am ready to break out some of my more edgy, funky leather pieces.
Boots – I know boots and booties can still be worn in the summer, but I tend to lean more towards open toed shoes to show of my nicely pedicured toenails in the summer.
Jackets – I have a lot of jackets and I find layering a much more fun way to express myself. You can completely change a look by adding a funky jacket, so cooler nights and mornings in the fall welcome.
Darker colors – more earthy tones may be the latest trends in the summer, but they are a staple in the fall. I love pulling out rusts, oranges, yellows, reds, browns and of course black. It is fun to experiment with mixing colors, patterns and styles and it brings a whole new dimension to your wardrobe.
The changing colors of the leaves – I honestly believe fall is one of nature’s most beautiful statements. I love driving through the canyon and looking at the many different colors that can even change day to day. Our neighborhood is filled with enormous trees and driving along some of the roads where I live is an experience in itself.
Halloween – it’s always been a favorite thing for us to celebrate in our neighborhood. Decorating our house with spider webs and scary things is fun for the boys to do, because on halloween night the trick or treaters are always out in abundance.
Thanksgiving – I know, I grew up in England and this wasn’t one of our celebrated holidays but I have embraced it since moving here. It is a time that we spend with family, eating delicious food, playing games and watching movies. Family time is the best time.
Football – when I say football I refer to both kinds (soccer and American football) – soccer is my die hard favorite sport, but I do also love a good Football game.
Barber Park Tour – every year our family (along with Brandon’s dad) go to a different baseball field to watch a couple of games. We go in September so the team we are seeing is likely to be making it into the playoffs. It has been a tradition in our family for 15 years starting with Brandon, his dad and I, and then the boys being able to come as soon as they were old enough. We have a map showing all the fields in the office and add a pin to each park we go to. The map is almost completely full now!
I have found that focusing on the things I do like about a season help me to find much more enjoyment and fulfillment in my days, and the best thing, this doesn’t have to apply to a season. Don’t like work on a Monday morning? Find something about it that you can appreciate. Don’t want to clean out the pantry – what is something that you might like about it?
There are so many things in this life that we have absolutely no control over – and the weather is definitely one of them. So what’s the point in getting frustrated or disappointed?
When we recently went to Glacier National park, we drove the “Going to the Sun Road” that takes you to the top of the mountain. The day was not very nice, and by the time we reached the top it was hailing. Now bear in mind that it was July and the clothes that I brought with me were summer clothes (although I did have a leather jacket and jeans), so as you can imagine, I wasn’t prepared for such conditions. I became very frustrated and almost miserable wondering to myself “what am I doing here”? It took me a little time to sit back and just surrender to the situation and realize that nobody planned this to happen, it just did. I started thinking that as Tony Robbins says “Life is not happening to you it’s happening for you”. Once that thought popped into my head, I let go of the feeling anger and frustration and just went with it. An amazing thing happened, I started to notice the beauty around me, I started to have fun and I considered others, specifically Brandon who was in his element because he had always wanted to go there.
I hope your Monday is off to a great start, or even if it’s not, what is something you could appreciate about it?
Just a thought…try looking at it from another perspective 🙂
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