Autumn is the season for shedding

Autumn is the season for shedding. Mother Nature changes out of her summer greens and brilliant blooming colors into her autumn wardrobe of browns, yellows, oranges and reds. She offers up the last fruits of her bountiful harvest. We picked oranges and squeezed fresh juice for this morning's breakfast. Our guava tree gifted us with an abundance of sweet fruit. The sunny days sneak out early, leaving a brisk darkness which urges me indoors to make hot chocolate.

Autumn is the season for shedding metaphorically as well. It is the time when I slow down and take an inventory of things that no longer suit me.

It is a time to:

1. Shed old habits that deprive me of living fully in the moment.
   
2. Shed old thought patterns than dampen my ability to see life as wonder filled.
   
3. Shed my persona of "clothing" that is too tight to hold that which is divine with me.
   
4. Shed the “clothing” of being hyper responsible, and give myself permission to play more.
   
5. Shed the “clothing”of being overly frugal, and give myself permission to spend a little more.
   

It is a time to be grateful for not only all that I have, but for all that I don't.

I am grateful for:

1. All those people who enhance my life.
   
2. The good fortune to live in a house with electricity and running water.
   
3. A healthy body that swims and bikes each day.
   
4. A voice that allows me to tell people that I love them.
   
5. Ears that allow me to hear music, and the laughter of my grandchildren.
   
6. Those painful moments that, in time, expand my capacity to give and receive joy.
   

Autumn is a time to shed those things to no longer serve us and to be grateful for what life has given us.