This summer hasn’t been what I thought it would be, but it’s been exactly what I needed it to be.

I expected to be traveling a lot. I had a dream of working abroad with my kid for 2.5 weeks. I saw a lot of beach days. A lot of beach picnics at night. A lot of time with friends. A lot of friends, period. Golf. Tanning. And a lightness.

That’s not what happened and until last week, I was fighting to get closer to that. I kept trying to have the summer I wanted instead of accepting what was here — and that meant all of what was here.

My daughter needed me and alone time with me more than ever. This was a nonnegotiable. She was/is growing and changing and dealing with a lot.
I kept trying to work and rework our/my schedule to make it more manageable.
I had an influx of clients who needed help, fast @emotionalabusecoach
Many of my friends didn’t feel like friends. I chose to stay home and make pizza with my daughter over doing something that didn’t feel hollow.
My hiking buddies weren’t available. And neither was I.
I was in a new relationship with different challenges. That didn’t feel like challenges, but areas where I needed to question how I was seeing something.
Flight prices were insane. We went where we could go for cheap (and it was still amazing).

There’s likely a longer list there, but the moral of my story is that I needed to ask myself what I needed this summer. What changes did I make this summer that will help me and my kiddo long term. I had to see it as an investment in my future, even though it wasn’t financial. I needed to remind myself that there will be more summers…many of them…and if I spent this one forming a new foundation, that I got exactly what I needed. My priorities were in place. I’m more in alignment with myself than ever before.
.