The leaves are a changin’, are you?

By Cyndi Woods

Oh how I love the Autumn season! The air gets crisper, fireplaces are glowing, candles are burning and the wonderful aromas of baked goods waft through the house. It’s just my favorite time of year.

I only have ten percent vision but when I hold a bright red leaf up close, it appears to be on fire. The hues of orange, yellow, purple and red are my happy place. I know the scientific reason for these glorious colors have to do with chlorophyll breaking down and halting the nutritional process they are responsible for, but I have another way of looking at it.

In late Fall, pretty much all the leaves have made their floating decent to the yards and fields spread out over the landscapes. Frustrated home-owners will yet again lace up boots and pull on work gloves to go retrieve the rake from the shed and repeat the task of raking, gathering, and bagging, hopefully for the last time this season. But this process of the trees shedding their leaves is also the process of letting go of the old and making room for the new.

We may be holding onto old hurts, past regrets or ancient unchangeable decisions, but if we don’t “shed our old leaves”, there will be no room for the new ones. Did you know that when snow piles up on leaves that have not been released from their branches they will eventually break the whole branch off the tree? Letting go of past things that will eventually break us allows for the new to make its entrance and begin offering the life-giving nutrients that we need.

What old leaves do you need to shed in order to make room for new life-giving leaves? Don’t let old leaves break you. Let them fall away and create space for rich nutritious leaves that will feed you. Enjoy the beautiful colors those old leaves have created in your life— they served a purpose. But look forward to the buds of new growth on the horizon. Happy Fall Y’all! Until next time, claim your courage, then claim your victory!

Cyndi woods is TDN’s writer in residence. You can find out more about her at www.cyndiwoods.com