I had a small epiphany the other day.
Someone was asking me how my summer was going, which has happened around a hundred times so far, and I answered, for the hundredth time, “Great! It’s been so good, what about yours?”
And right as I was saying that, what popped into my brain at the very same time was, “You’re lying. It hasn’t been that great.”
This caught me off-guard. After the conversation was over, I thought about it a bit more, and realized it was true – I haven’t really been enjoying summer as much as I thought I would, but I’m never honest enough with myself to admit it. I’m too busy counting blessings and choosing a happy attitude, and all that.
Which is good.
But sometimes, if there’s a problem, it needs to be addressed.
So I tried to think of why, exactly, I was not enjoying summer.
And the answer that came to mind was this: “I’m not doing any of the things I was looking forward to doing this summer.”
Summer has not be meeting my expectations.
The problems is, I never realized I had expectations, until they weren’t being met.
There were two choices before me: get rid of expectations, or start making them happen.
I think I’ll do a bit of both. But either way, I need to know what my expectations are before I can get rid of them, or before I can make them happen.
I think lots of disappointments in life come because we don’t realize what our expectations are. Some people truly are easy-going enough not to have expectations, but I am not one of those people. There’s usually a picture in my mind for everything.
I definitely had a picture in my mind for this summer. I just didn’t take time to think about what it included.
I’m making a list of what I thought I wanted to see happen, and I still have a month to make some changes!
What do I need to let go of?
What do I need to plan for the month of August?
What shall we do to make this summer spectacular?
Spending five days at the lake this week was definitely an excellent start to turning this summer around!
Can you think of anything you need to do to meet or change your summer expectations?
Ordinary Days 
I have one expectation for this summer that would really bug me if it wasn’t met. I want a pathway from our driveway to our front door so that guests can come in our pretty front entrance instead of our utilitarian back mud room. For that to happen we need scads of dirt brought in (keeps getting delayed by the excavation company – the latest is maybe early next week) and then I want the flower bed that runs along the front of the garage to the front porch to be completed which involves a retaining wall. That would give the illusion of a path, which would make me completely ecstatic! And my definition of summer in this matter is anytime before the snow flies. What do I need to do to make this happen? Be patient for dirt and then work like crazy when it is actually here. I even have some of the plants that will go in that flower bed.
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