Saying So Long to Summer

Classes have officially started.  For some reason I had it in my mind that classes didn't start until after Labor Day. Wishful thinking on my part. I'm glad I decided to check my Gonzaga email yesterday. Class introductions on Blackboard are off my to-do list. I'm kicking-off this semester with a course in organizational leadership. I find it ironically fitting considering the transitional phase I find myself in.

Being focused on the subject of leadership for the next eight weeks is a good thing. After all, a critical election is less than three months away. My mind is made up, but many independent/unaffiliated voters in swing states are still up in the air on if they should throw in the towel with President Obama and give presidential candidate Mitt Romney an opportunity to lead the United States back in time. Even if Obama squeaks out a win, the GOP still has a shot at taking back the Senate. While many pundits and political strategists think Rep. Akin's "legitimate rape" comments make a GOP takeover unlikely, I'm counting him down and not out.

Sunday's season finale of True Blood, the kick-off of the Republican convention this week,  cooler evenings, and back-to-school sales reinforce that it's time to prepare to say so long to summer. Of course summer isn't officially over until September 21, 2012, but I might as well start mentally preparing for the seasonal change and whatever else life holds.

This summer will be a memorable one for me. It won't be because I took a fabulous, exotic vacation. The pride and joy of home ownership has turned vacation funds into home improvement funds. Luckily, Karim and I still managed to take a couple of long weekend getaways. Instead, I'll remember the summer of 2012 as the year when I a chapter in my life closed and I prepared to say good-bye to colleagues I've worked with for the past seven years. Those good-byes have already started and will continue until December 21, 2012. This summer also reminded me that there are No Guarantees in life. My life will be what I make of it, even if I get thrown a curve ball.

This fall will mark a somewhat somber period of time for me. The cool nights become cold nights. I dread the first frost and having to warm my car up in the morning. Since my car is a manual transmission, I don't have the luxury of an automatic car-starter. Fall also begins the last quarter in the year where I begin the process of assessing what goals I accomplished and which ones I didn't.

Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for the quote, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." I believe this notion to be true even though there are times when I find it hard to accept.

I'm still alive, I'm in good health and now I have an opportunity to reinvent myself. Everyday I'm reminded of the possibilities, despite the fact that I face uncertainty in some areas of my life and that I go through periods where I have more questions than answers. I'm not going to stress, not yet anyways.

For now, I'll just say, "So long summer."