If the Falling Leaves Were Our Teachers…
If the falling leaves were our teachers, I bet they'd have some important lessons to share. Use your imagination and read this if you could use an extra dose of wonder and inspiration today.
“One of the great lessons the fall of the leaf teaches, is this: do your work well and then be ready to depart when God shall call.” – Tryon Edwards
5 Enduring Lessons of the Falling Leaves
1. Trust.
Autumn is a colorful display of trust, a lesson so passionately taught by the descent of each leaf. It’s as if the falling leaves know that “the only way to make sense of change,” as Alan Watts wrote, “is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
Let us keep learning that change can be a beautiful thing. It’s natural for the leaf to trust it is, but we humans must choose to have faith in the sacred seasons of our lives.
Watch. The falling leaf embraces its ending as though it were a new beginning.
2. Patience.
Rushing through the experiences and circumstances of our lives limits their capacity to transform us. Take a gentle cue from the falling leaves, and practice patience. Everything is falling into place. It's your time to slow down, to make space for renewal.
With patience, you'll see more, feel more, learn more. Less rushing in your life means more life in your days.
Sometimes it’s best to flow effortlessly and let the winds of change plant you where you need to be.
3. Release.
Releasing one thing opens up space for something else. Letting go of the old makes way for the new, and gives you the chance to experience life from another viewpoint. Without being stuck in one place forever.
Like the crisp of autumn air, there's clarity in each phase of renewal. The new season is a sacred time to look into the past, bless it, forgive it, and release it so that you can enjoy the splendor what's here. What's here is your life.
Trees don’t cling to their leaves, nor do the leaves cry that there's not enough time.
What's left, after all the leaves are shed and the layers stripped away, is a naked soul baring its truth.
"We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are." – Max dePree
4. Grace.
The barren maple tree sheds the old in a splendid show of release. The falling leaves become compost to nourish the soil of new beginnings. By releasing your grip, too, on that which isn't yours to hold anymore, you let grace flood in.
You can rake up the fallen leaves of yourself and trust that it'll become fertilizer for your forward movement.
Let your mistakes be swept away by the crisp changing winds. They're seeds of discovery. Every season gives you a chance to change with it. Letting that happen is letting grace happen to you.
The promise of continued life is written in every autumn leaf that falls.
5. Perspective.
As we slowly lean toward new seasons, we find ourselves looking out at a different part of the starry universe. What a miracle it can be to sync our sight to the rhythms of life, to change the way we see things.
The autumn leaf, too, listens to the pull of the earth. And so it goes where it feels drawn, and enjoys the journey there.
“Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.” – Dan Brown
. . .
Tell me:
Which of these thoughts is your favorite?
Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!
With love,
Jen
P.S. Celebrate this season of your life with something you can hold. Go visit my shop for prints of handwritten poems and other words of hope and heart. If you forget what matters or how stunning it is that you're here at all, you’ll have something to remind you.
Comments on this post (1)
Awesome.
— Carolyn Ewing.