Fall is Here! Turn Over A New Leaf.

Fall is Here! Turn Over A New Leaf.

(Read in 3 minutes)“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.”~Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

Wowsers, today was an absolutely gorgeous day! I jokingly say that in Nebraska we’re alloted only about a dozen days this close to perfect. Who could stay inside? Hawthorne would have been pleased to see me on my knees in the dirt, planting crocuses for next spring.

 

As you know, I’m a quotes junkie. Not long ago, I saw a poster that made me smile. It said, “September is my favorite color.”  I wrote the words on my little kitchen chalkboard but when the calendar turned to this month, I just erased it a smidge and wrote in October. Because if I’m honest, October is my favorite-est.

 

Raise your hand if fall is your favorite season!  Yes yes yes!!  Maybe it’s because I’m so crazy about this time of year that the whole world seems to agree with me. Yet there are those who say “Not me! It just means winter is around the corner!” What?!!  How can anyone think like that? It’s so sad!  And other times, when I see the splendid days of fall hurrying past, I feel a wistful pang and I get it. Time is flying by and too soon it will be winter. Why can’t October last two months?

 

 

Fall! If I could save time in a bottle

 

When October rolls around I find myself wishing I could freeze time. Haven’t we all had that thought? Who doesn’t love the brilliant colors, low humidity and intense blue skies, the sweet days of autumn? It’s as if nature has saved the best for last and is pulling out all the stops for a giant grand finale! I never want these days to end.

 

 

And all of a sudden I understood why. For all the glorious autumns and beautiful frosty winters and tender green springs and bright summer days we live, deep down we all know that at some point, the seasons will continue to roll around but we will no longer be around to experience them. And that can make us feel very sad. Almost immediately, though, another thought hit me. We always have a choice in the way we view the passing seasons and our life.

 

So, how will you spend your days?

 

I’ve lived long enough to be in the autumn of my life now, and I’ll be honest, I’ve often found myself dreading winter. But today, in that moment of clarity, I realized how wasteful it is to spend even a single beautiful day I have right now thinking about what might come next. And that, my friend, is the choice we are free to make at any point in our life. We can always choose to live in the present moment, making the most of each day we are given.

 

“Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.”~Unknown

 

 

About 2000 years ago the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote a surprisingly timeless little piece called On the Shortness of Life.  He began by saying, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested”. He maintained “Life is long enough if you know how to use it.”

 

So, how will you choose to spend your days? I hope you will see each day for what it is. A day like no other. As unique as you are, unlike any you will ever again experience and a fresh opportunity to become an even better you. American author Annie Dillard summed it up nicely when she wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

 

See you Thursday! See life with new eyes!