Do you know why trees shed their leaves in autumn?
Preservation. Life.
How many times have we heard that autumn means that trees die in the winter? Only, that isn’t true. Not at all. Leaves turn beautiful colors and then fall, so that the trees have to expend less energy in the winter. By trimming back on what is no longer useful, the tree is able to survive. Then, the tree is able to flourish in the spring because its lack of leaves allows for pollen to wash over it. There is nothing there to encumber its progression, its new growth.
So don’t be sad when you see a tree looking barer. Smile. It’s living. It’s thriving.
What does this mean for people?
Trim away what is no longer necessary. Stop harboring old voices in your head, ones from acquaintances that have long since slipped from your life and said unkind or untrue things. Don’t let them define your worth. Stop trying to win the races that ended years ago, the ones where you didn’t quite finish how you wanted, the ones where you didn’t get the results you wanted.
Stop trying to be the tree from the past, when you are supposed to be the tree from the present. And don’t worry about the spring coming; enjoy the autumn.
Be like a tree. Remember the past and paint it in the most beautiful rosy hues from summer’s light and then let go of anything that no longer serves you, so that you are free to not just survive, but to thrive.
My best to you all,
Megan