New England, where I was born and raised, is known throughout the world for it’s brilliant fall foliage. In fact, I’m planning to make some time this week to go for a drive and appreciate how incredible it is.
photo cred: Day Tripper Tours
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Fall has always been my favorite season. I love the cooler temperatures before the cold rolls in. I love football season. As a kid, fall meant apple picking, hay rides and cider donuts. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
A few years ago, I heard a quote from Tiny Buddha that made me love fall even more.
Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.
The beauty of the leaves turning precedes them dying. Falling. These trees are most beautiful before they are bare. It’s not sad, it’s amazing. And, of course, they return.
I can’t see the vibrant colors on the trees without thinking of that powerful reminder: it can be absolutely beautiful to let things go.
A few days ago, my friend took a road trip to see the leaves changing in New Hampshire. I sent her a voice note to share that quote I love and also to read a passage from The Book of Awakening. I’ll share part of it it with you, too!
I envy the tree, how it reaches but never holds. We can’t stop life from flowing. So we are left with feeling what was and what is, and we call the difference loss. But all the clinging and holding only makes it worse.
Isn’t that gorgeous? What might it look like, in your life, to reach but not hold? What would it look like to acknowledge the change, like the leaves, but not see it as loss? What do you need to let go of?
I talked about this in episode 526 of the podcast. You can go through change and still be happy. Wanting things to be different doesn’t mean you have to be unhappy with the way things are.
Change doesn’t have to mean loss.
Loss doesn’t mean things are worse. If you’re open, they’ll almost certainly get better.
Reach, but don’t hold.
Change is an opportunity.
Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let go.