I love the end of summer. Sounds strange doesn’t it – I mean, I’m sure I’ve told you how much I love the warm weather, but the end of summer is lovely. When the weather gets a bit cooler and the mornings are crisp – it doesn’t feel at all like the end, but more like a fresh start. My feelings are deeply rooted in the excitement of the beginning of the school year.   I can’t help it, I still get excited about buying school supplies for my kids – when I was teaching still, I enjoyed shopping for my classroom.

This was a strange summer; there was no real defined start or some spectacular end. This year, it just sort-of flowed from one season to the next. There was no going out with a bang – no barbeque, no fireworks, no get-together…just the start of school.

That got me thinking about how we end things.

The older I get, the more critical I think going out with a bang is. Having a definitive end to a job, a season, a relationship, a living space, a vacation – helps me to put it behind me with a smile and move onto the next thing with resolve, joy, or anticipation.

Rolling stops don’t do the same for me – they give me nebulous jello-like feeling – not solid   – not liquid and thoroughly unsatisfying. It’s especially important to go out with a bang when you’re leaving something you love, something you don’t want to leave because it helps you let go. It’s also valuable to go out with a bang when you are leaving a situation you can’t get out of soon enough. In that case, it’s like the push you make off the wall when swimming laps – it propels you forward.

I wonder what would happen if, for each transition in my life, I went out with a bang. If I got up in the morning, and instead of dragging, I jumped up and down on my bed a few times before I flung the covers over to make it. If I left the bathroom after brushing my teeth with a giant smile and loud salutation in the mirror.  If I sang at the top of my lungs and waved maniacally at my children as they walked out the door to catch the bus. What if I didn’t stop there? What if I kept it up all day? What if I left off each new task of the day with a bang like some backward Simpson’s intro?

Would I be more excited to move on to the next thing?

Would I have more energy?

Would I feel more fulfilled when I’d completed the task?

Would I better be able to tick off each item I’d accomplished on my list with glee?

I don’t know, but it’s worth a try!

Why don’t you try it too and tell me all about it:)

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31