I just bought a new table decoration for fall. All the autumn colors. Yes, I am getting ready for the change of seasons. The hot weather has finally broken here in Ohio, and a feel of cooler air is coming into the windows. I find myself wearing longer sleeves and digging out socks in the morning. Even my coffee steams a bit higher in the dawn light.
September always invites me to reset my agenda and consider what have I done so far this year and what is still hanging undone and calling to be completed the rest of year. What still needs to be cleaned, thrown out, finished? What needs to be scratched off the list and never completed at all? Somehow this time of year welcomes in me a new spirit of clarity and eagerness to get things done.
How do I honor this new season?
- I will change the décor in the house.
- I will reread my journal, review my rule of life, and check my goals for 2025.
- I will give thanks for summer and say hello to fall.
- I will find at least one more fall warm morning to sit outside on my backyard swing enjoying the weather before winter sets in. Yes savor the setting!!
- I will review my calendar for upcoming events and decide priorities. Do I really want to go to that event? (Some I will say yes and some I give myself permission to say no to). Letting go of what no longer gives life.
- I will name a few friends I meant all year to contact and haven’t yet but want to have coffee with. Yes, I will plan that coffee date before the holidays set in.
- I will listen deeply to my heart and my soul and recognize the divine inner Voice within calling me forward.
- I will seek balance as sometimes the shift in shorter daylight and changing schedules throws me/us into inner turmoil. Deep breathing and seeking silence will help restore my equilibrium.
- I will embrace change because in reality all of life is change. We change, grow, transform constantly as a natural part of life – that is a lesson seasons teach us. I will look with hope to the gifts fall will bring, knowing its goodness will come wrapped with joy and some sorrow but always with tons of God’s love.
We rush through life so much. Each moment a blur. We wake up and suddenly it’s another year.
I for one, want to pause and hold the sacredness of time. To honor its passing. To cherish the seasons for their gifts and their lessons and what each month reminds us to keep and to release. The questions each one brings such as what is bringing us life and what no longer is life-giving to our hearts and need to be cleansed? Seasons are essential to our spiritual growth – seasons are markers that wake us up and keep us on the path.
What do you think? What is fall inviting you into?
“Let go of what no longer gives life.” That statement is going on a Post-It in my journal, as a wise reminder: Time is short. Prioritize. Lose the discouraging, unsatisfying, and demoralizing. (The one exception might be housecleaning! 😁 )
I also find thinking about what brings me joy also brings me insight. I wonder what brings God joy? Maybe I should add that too. I laughed at housecleaning comment. That is so true. There are some things we do have to keep doing though some saints would even find God in those ordinary duties. I will have to work on that though!
Jean, I love the reset that each season brings! And you are so purposeful as you transition from one to the next. All your ‘I will’ decisions are so powerful and meaningful in what they will add to your life. I leave here this evening all kinds of motivated. Thank you, friend!
glad they motivated you. I know the act of sharing them here and writing them out inspires me too.