The leaves crunch under my feet as I walk along the slender trail.
Cool puffs of air escape my lips and dissipate into the bare trees above.
All around me is silence.
The forest is quiet today.
A stillness in surrendering to the next season.
There is no fight,
No resistance.
Just a gentle laying down of arms,
A release,
An acceptance of what is.
For it knows after winter,
There will always come spring.
For it knows that change is a season of growth.
So it surrenders without a fight.
Its unquestioning acceptance invites peace.
Nature is life's wisest teacher.
Sometimes we do not listen to the wisdom.
We do not embrace the cyclical surrendering of the seasons of our days,
Of our lives.
We resist change.
We mourn the past and fear the future.
We grip our lives so tightly,
As though we can freeze the moment if we just hold on.
Freeze the moment,
Postpone the future,
So we can avoid the inevitable pain that future may hold for us.
The future of that creeping winter chill that teases us through the golden glow of autumn.
But what a shame to not enjoy that golden vibrant season of autumn.
Because we are so blinded by the fear of a dark and cold winter yet to come.
The resistance will steal away the joy.
And often regret will come when the first snow falls and the beauty of it silences all fear.
The future is never as scary as we make it in our minds.
The real fear comes in the realization that we spent our lives afraid.
Fighting the inevitable seasons of change,
Of growth.
A life lived in fear is a life half lived.
Let's take a moment to practice surrendering to the present moment.
Close your eyes.
Focus on your breath.
The slow rhythmic inhales and exhales.
Filling your belly,
Your chest with air and releasing it.
With each inhale and exhale,
Let go of all preconceived expectations of who you think you are,
How you think your life should look.
Your edges become blurred.
Your thoughts drift away.
You are a budding oak tree.
Your roots pierce deep into the soil,
Grounding your existence.
The final frost has passed.
The sunlight glitters on your dew-soaked branches.
You see the world with new eyes.
The wind will come.
It always does.
But you will not bow against it.
You will bend with the gale,
Submitting to its testing power.
And when the storm has finally passed,
You will stand taller still,
Knowing what you are capable of enduring.
Life is not meant to only be highs.
Without the lows,
We would not know the highs.
Life is a series of seasons,
Ever-changing.
And only when we accept the change,
Surrender to the growth,
Will we find true peace.
Each phase,
Each new day,
Each diagnosis,
Night of lost sleep,
Painful phone call,
Or moment of nostalgia is a chance for growth.
A lesson learned.
A moment lived.
A drop of wisdom in your ever-filling bucket of experiences and lessons that make up your life here on Earth.
Detach from your panicked assumptions of what it all means and just let it be.
Release.
Let go.
Surrender to the breeze.
Your roots will hold.
Inhale the peace.
Exhale the expectations,
Letting them drift away.
Inhale the acceptance.
Exhale the control.
The only thing that matters is the here and now.
Surrender to the present moment.
Surrender to the rise and fall of your chest.
The breath that's whispering to you that right now,
In this moment,
You are okay.
There is beauty and so much growth to be found in the season you are in right now.
Surrender to it now and let the beauty unfold before you.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes and take in your surroundings.
Thank you for joining me and have a beautiful day.
