Change is upon us.  If you have not yet felt it, tune in with your intuition and you will.  The most apparent change of the moment is the seasons transitioning from summer to fall.  With the fall equinox approaching, the letting go of freedom found in summer is replaced with a return to focused work in the typically over scheduled autumn.  In my view, fall is representative of the metaphorical death of what is, in order to allow for what will be.  It is a wonderful time to lay the groundwork for changes you wish to see in your life. The days get shorter, the weather is crisper and a renewed attention is allowed as new directions are mulled over.

 

“There is a harmony

In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,

Which through the summer is not heard or seen,

As if it could not be, as if it had not been!”

–   Percy Bysshe Shelley   

 

Change can be a scary thing.  Comfort can be found in the common rhythm of the day whether productive or not. I am one such person that enjoys a certain amount of routine, thereby allowing stability to the ebb and flow of my day.  Interestingly, the one thing that I have not had in my life is just that, stability.  Change has been my constant companion for better or for worse and a constant teacher. Just when I think I have everything figured out, in waltz’s change.  Over time, I have come to accept that this is not only persistent but necessary for my growth.  

 

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”

― Rumi spiritual quote

 

The discomfort that I experience in intense moments of change requires an emotional and spiritual intelligence that is learned only through many difficult passages in life. I have slowly collected skills that have assisted me and I am much more equipped to navigate difficult transformations. I am also more aware of others when they are facing serious life challenges which call for evaluation and redirection.  Everything must move through seasons, seasons in work, relationships, a lifetime and in spiritual growth.  No one is immune to this. I can now listen intently to another’s growing pains, providing some degree of comfort without interjecting my own needs.  For me this is a small victory and one that I cherish.

I think of my parents and those that have seen many seasons. The elderly have always held my interest more than my own age group. They have wisdom in the eyes, born from having seen many hardships and joys along the way. This learned group can speak simply with a look, no words required. It is as if over the many years of living they have figured out that less is more and sitting in quiet is an opportunity to contemplate and grow.  Maybe this is why I am not afraid of the passing of the years, but rather look forward to them as a new chapter in my life.

 

“Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

 

Yes, I have a utopian view of life at times. One in which I am sitting on a bench with my partner and watching the sunrise, walking slowly in the park and enjoying the coming of the years with beautiful quality moments. I inherently know that this may not be the reality I am afforded, but I still hope to have more quiet moments and gentle talks about life rather than the constant rushing around of present. While I have little control about the way in which my life unwinds, I do have control over the way I accept the certain change. The truth is no matter what I do, the seasons will in fact change.  Leaves fall, colder weather and darker days will come and the spring will slowly rise eternal bringing with it new life. It is the paradox to be sure. Seasons can be unpredictable in presentation, but always constant in eventual arrival.

 

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

― St. Francis of Assisi, The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi

 

The change of seasons also provides me another chance to reevaluate how I am living, what is working and what is not. Do I like my job, my health and fitness level, my relationships with family and friends, my creative outlets, my study interests? If the answer is no to any of these, now is the time to lay foundation and plant seeds for the new. Making small changes do matter.  Just as we do not see the small changes of the leaves until they have turned beautiful colors , falling to the ground thereby creating fertile soil, we will not reap the rewards from our own efforts for some time.

The point of the exercise is not how fast we achieve goals, but that we make small commitments to their eventual attainment each day. As seasons must patiently wait for the right time, so must we.  Fall cannot arrive in the spring or vice versa. It is this wisdom that the elderly maintain with patience and resolve.  They are in no rush to reach the next season, another winter or another spring.  They know this is never guaranteed. Instead they choose to find comfort in the beauty of the present.  Change will come in its own time,  that much is promised.