We’re two days away from the official start of autumn.
We who ride hard for fall start the celebration as early as the return to school or on September 1. And, while the PSL may make its return around Labor Day, it’s a few more weeks until the weather and the earth begin to show their first hints of fall.
Where I am in Tennessee, as fall officially hits the calendar, the temperatures are just starting to drop slightly, bringing a crispness to the morning air. A few leaves are transforming from deep greens to the fire-hued colors aligned with fall.
Fall brings with it so much fun and celebration. Hayrides and hot chocolate. Blankets and bonfires. Football and foliage.
All of those things are a delight. But there is so much more to fall than the sweaters and PSLs. I believe that autumn, unlike the other three seasons, can uniquely teach us how to prepare for the rest of the year.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun. I believe that each season of the year contributes specifically to our lives. In winter, we take time to rest and restore ourselves. In spring, feeling rejuvenated, we begin to bring life and vibrancy back to our lives. In summer, we maximize the day by taking action. But fall…fall teaches us to let go so that we can be ready to receive restoration, rejuvenation and activity.
I believe autumn is a season of letting go. Not just any kind of letting go. But purposeful letting go in order to grow.
If you’ve been on social media for a minute, then you’ve certainly seen any number of posts around this time showing a leaf or leaves, barren tree limbs and the like, with the words “The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let things go.” The sentence paints beautiful imagery, and within is a real science we can apply to our lives. If trees and shrubs didn’t drop their leaves in fall, during the winter, when water freezes on the leaves, the small leaf cells would rupture, rendering them useless for photosynthesis. Then, the trees and shrubs would be stuck with useless leaves. For the trees to grow and thrive past winter, they must shed what is no longer serving them.
The same is true for us. Before we can even begin to start planning and goal setting for a fresh, new year, we need to take inventory of what we have in our lives now. Here are some questions we should ask ourselves during this fall season:
- What is serving us?
- What is weighing us down, or could weigh us down moving forward?
- What might potentially be already dead on the vine?
- What can we let go of to make room for something else?
Bob Goff, speaker and author, has Quitting Thursdays. Every Thursday, he encourages his readers and followers to essentially let something go.
What if we started our celebration of fall by committing to letting some things go?
Ask yourself the hard questions. Take inventory of what you’d like to have in your life and what can be moved out so that can be moved. Then, start allowing the excess weight and crowding of our lives to fall off. Let’s prepare our hearts, minds, and spirits to welcome and receive new things by shedding what is no longer serving us. Imagine the gratitude we will all have discovered by Thanksgiving if we start letting go of the unnecessary now.
The release of the things that have the ability to weigh us down will have us all singing Fall-le-lu-jah!