Summer 2022

For some reason, everyone I know is in Europe right now. Everyone seems to be eating dinner in front of the Eiffel Tower or living out their Mama Mia dream in Greece. My Instagram has been flooded with perfect photos of beautiful scenery, exquisite food, and outfits straight from Pinterest.

I think we have a tendency to set really high expectations for summertime. You all know the stereotypical summer dream. Everyone expects this epic, insane summer with boat days, tan lines, and late nights.

But sometimes, our summers don’t look like that. Our summers may not be straight from Pinterest, or filled with traveling, or beach days.

And I’m here to tell you that that is ok.

I remember last summer, when all I did was work, and how discouraging it was to open up social media and see what everyone was doing. I would work long hours, and by the time I got off work, I would be too tired to want to do anything remotely social. The days that I did have off, most of my friends would be working, so even if I did have time to be social, I couldn’t always include other people in that. I worked almost every day, and although making money was good, I would get discouraged and upset that all I was doing was working.

I didn’t take advantage of having a routine every day. I didn’t enjoy the luxury of getting to wake up and work out before work if my shift started later or getting to walk during sunset if I got off early. I didn’t lean in to having an independent summer and thought that I needed to be with people in order to have fun.

So, as the travel continues, the boat days leak into the night, and tans become darker, remember that any summer is still a good summer. Just because you aren’t drinking wine on the Amalfi Coast or tanning on the California coast, your days can still be good.

Have things to look forward too, focus on making money, or spend time with your family. Don’t forget that this is your summer, and you can spend it exactly how you want it.