The Valuable Lessons Of Late August

The last two weeks of August teach us powerful lessons, if we're willing to listen.
These are surely among the slowest weeks of the year.
Everything gets sorta muggy and labored.
People flee urban areas in droves. And they also soak up the seemingly final remaining joys of the mountains and the shore.
If you haven't taken a vacation up to this point (too busy, haven't gotten around to it, can't afford it) you're liable to flee before Labor Day.
For Labor Day hovers over you in the same way that Sunday night haunts a schoolkid. Even though summer doesn't really end till September 23, the psychological imperative of Labor Day looms like a thief in the night -- ready to snatch you from the clutches of summer's leisurely pace.
But if you're willing to savor these final weeks of August, you can learn lots more than you will in the post Labor Day rush.
This is your last chance to slow down and reflect on where you are and where you're going. For the new year is more appropriately pegged at Labor Day than it is at New Year's Day itself. So it's important to have goals and consider options this time of year. By all means, plan. But remember also that we make plans and God chuckles.
So, kick back and put things in perspective.
Get your priorities in order.
If you're in good health and there are people around you who love you and care about you, consider yourself very fortunate. Ditto if you work in a profession or a job environment that you truly enjoy. You are blessed.
Family. Faith. Freedom. Health and well being. Good friends and loved ones. A sense of daily, worthwhile accomplishment. All of these are invaluable.
And we learn an important lesson when we learn to treasure these precious intangibles.
I'm not always a touch-feely sorta guy but I can tell you that August gives us a chance to lower the volume a bit and put our arms around each moment and every loving relationship and every valued friend and every satisfying accomplishment.
We've also earned the right to simply do nothing for a moment or two. So, clear your mind and gaze at the summer sky.
Then, as the fall season approaches think about what you're going to do to help others. Because in the end that is often the source of true contentment, of fulfillment in life. For my part, I highly recommending mentoring -- passing something along to the future generations. But you can choose your own approach; your own road to reaching out.
Pay attention as the days pass and September approaches.
For these are the quiet lessons of late August.
Photo copyright 2010 by Dan Cirucci.