The sunlight shines down brightly on me, warming my body from the inside out. The path around the lake is littered with leaves and crunches underneath my feet. I take a moment to breathe in deeply and look around. I spy a bee lazily buzzing around to the remaining flowers, enjoying the last few drops of sweetness before the cold sets in. The wind whips the trees, as a colorful shower of leaves flutters down to the ground at their own pace. A butterfly catches a gust of wind and rides the wave purposefully to her next destination. I breathe in again, smelling the decay of the fallen leaves, thankful for this moment in my day. My life. My season.

The fall season is a perfect analogy for life. Trees lose their leaves, but still manage to survive…and eventually thrive once again. Bees, butterflies, and birds migrate to where life suits them best. The sun doesn’t shine every day, but we know that even on cloudy, rainy, or snowy days, we will emerge and see the sunshine once again. Seasons change, but do not last forever. Things come to an end. Releasing, darkness and rest gives birth to new beginnings.

Today is a pristine fall day for which I am enormously grateful.