sunshine – We Only Get One Chance

SWEET SWEET SEPTEMBER

As I was on a 3 mile walk near my home this evening, I was thinking I don’t know if I ever remember a sweeter September in Michigan than what we are experiencing this year. I love the fall and am totally in love with this sweet, sweet September.

Do you remember ever having more sunshine than what we have had lately? I think it has rained maybe a few hours total for this entire month. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan September

The nights are cool now, the mornings are crisp and it is so refreshing.

But there is so much more to this sweet sweet September than just the weather and I do not know many people who actually enjoy talking about the weather.

September marks a time of year when things begin to “normalize”. Most of that is our schedules with school starting and getting the family back to some sort of “normal” routine. Serving this community in my office, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, on a weekly basis magnifies so much of the community energy. August, and the preparation for school to start, brings a frenzied energy. There is always such anticipation about the year ahead and what it will bring. So many questions run around in everyone’s head and it shows up in their physiology…Who will be my teacher this year? Will I have the right clothes? I wonder if my friends will be in my class? I wonder if I will get “that” student the other teachers are warning everyone about? I wonder how my sports team will do? .…all of these unknowns and so much more adds into the already heightened energy of August.

In the past, September has hit like a ton of bricks and it has often taken a long time for people to settle into their routines. But this sweet sweet September feels very different. It feels like we were all ready for that shift back to routine and school and work. Of course our busy schedules have brought October on us so quickly it is difficult to believe that will be next week.

And when speaking about sweet sweet September, we cannot forget about college football of course! College football games are usually attended wearing lots of layers and drinking warm drinks…but not in September and especially not this September. Beautiful, sunshine filled Saturdays at the football stadiums with the smells of fall in the air, does it get any sweeter than that?!?!

So as I am walking this evening and admiring absolutely everything about this beautiful place I call home, I am thinking to myself “I don’t remember a sweeter September than this one, and I am sure grateful to be awake and alive today to experience it!”

I certainly hope you have been able to get out and play in the sunshine with your families. Within just a few weeks, winter will be moving in and I am definitely not banking on seeing another sweet sweet September quite like this one. We get to live this one time…put some of those “have to’s” aside for a few more days and get out there and make the most of it!!!

LET THE SUN SHINE IN

As I walk around enjoying an outdoor music festival today, I realize how much the sun effects people, especially in this part of the country. We had a long, cold winter and it is now time to let the sun shine in!!!

It is a perfect, beautiful day to spend time outside listening to music. The Waterhill Music Festival is a sweet little festival where all kinds of bands and artists perform from the front porches of homes within a neighborhood as a whole slew of people walk the streets. People are happy. They have shed layers of clothing in exchange for sunglasses and smiles and the energy is amazing.

I am fortunate to spend the afternoon with a few of my most favorite gals and we catch each other up on life as we lay in the grass listing to live music.

We dance around a may pole, do lots of people-watching and enjoy a little bit of dancing ourselves.

Last summer I got a convertible…well sort of a convertible. I have a Jeep Wrangler and it is really simple to removed the tops directly over the front seats and let the sun shine in while driving. The tops have been off for about three days already and the next few look sunny and 70s as well…which automatically means that there is going to be a super happy undertone to everything that happens this week! I had no idea about the joy a convertible brings but am slowly realizing that there are some really sweet moments created by mixing loud music, sunshine, a breeze and a long country road.

I took the long way to get to Ann Arbor today driving all back country roads. What would normally take forty minutes to drive on the expressway, took almost two hours…but the time was absolutely blissful. Sometimes there isn’t much that is better than taking the long way just for the sake of taking a long drive.

Spring is a happy time, a time for growth and renewal, and it is palpable in the people that I have been hanging around…those that I know and so many strangers that I shared the sidewalk with today at the music festival. It is a bustling evening here in Ann Arbor, definitely a great sign of spring and It is absolutely time to let the sun shine in to your life!!!

HAPPY

This past weekend I was up north and spent my days snowboarding at Crystal Mountain. There were many, many moments during the days that I thought to myself “I am happy”. I then asked the question “What makes me happy?” and “What about everyone else?”.

I live a blessed life and I have many things that add to my happiness. In those moments while I was out on my snowboard, my happiness was magnified by the fact that I had a warm bed to wake up in, I prepared and ate a great breakfast that fueled my body for my day, I had time to play in the snow, the sun was shining, I was enjoying great conversation with a friend, I was able to let loose and fly down the hill on my snowboard and I was up north which is a change of day to day scenery.

I thought to myself “I really wish everyone that I know could be out here having as much fun as I was having.” That thought was soon nixed by the fact that the slopes would be too crowded if EVERYONE I knew was out there, but it transformed to “I really wish everyone that I know could be doing something that would add to their happiness as much as snowboarding in the sunshine adds to mine.” Yes, that is a much more rational thought.

When I mention the thought of being happy, I am also reminded of a man that has been coming in to get adjusted at the Cafe of LIFE for years and never, ever gets excited about anything; Monday is not exciting, Tuesday is not exciting, Wednesday is not exciting, Thursday is not exciting, Friday is not exciting, the weekend is not exciting, literally nothing is ever exciting and I wonder about his internal happiness. My thought is…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?!

Last night I attended a prayer service for an icon of a man who lost his life way too young. This man was truly a happy man and he did his very best to show others a little bit about being happy ever chance he got in hopes he could help them smile a little more on the inside. As I listened to his children speak about him, I was reminded of my own mortality and that we are never guaranteed a tomorrow and that life is really short, often shorter than we anticipate…so figure out what makes you happy and go do that!

Be HAPPY! There is absolutely no time like the present. If not today, then WHEN?!?! There isn’t anyone who is going to make you happy, you have to go out and make that happen for yourself. Let’s not wait one more day. Get out there!!!

What makes you happy? How do you add happy stuff to your day? Share in the comments below, you may end up inspiring someone with your ideas or the things you do.

SUMMER IS HERE

What a beautiful long weekend!!! It really feels like summer now. For some reason Mother Nature feels that the people from Michigan can handle going from 50s right to 80s and 90s. For those of us that live in this amazing state…if it means we get to see th

e sun, WE WILL TAKE IT!!! There is a certain feeling that comes along with summer. I think it may have to do with the shedding of all the layers we have to wear during the winter in order to keep warm. Once summer comes, even something as simple as being able to wear flip flops is so freeing.

We are incredibly blessed with all the water and lakes that surround us. In this great little town alone, we probably have 8 or 9. Life on the lake is really nice. I am fortunate that my parents live on the lake just south of town and on the weekends, my brothers and their families gather and we hang out and play all day. We usually gather with food and music and spend the entire day chatting, catching some rays and watching my niece, Charlei, learn about the water, sand and navigating the deck. It is a lot of fun and has become my most favorite thing to do. Yesterday was wonderfully hot, the lake was incredibly busy, and the water was amazingly refreshing. Everything wrapped up around 7 or so and everyone headed home to get some final rest before the week begins again. I headed down a couple doors to a small gathering that was happening, chatted for a few minutes and helped them clean up… And that is when it happened…I had my first bite of watermelon. I don’t know anything that says “welcome to summer” more than biting into fresh watermelon. It’s summertime. Get out there and enjoy yourself!