Falling for Fall

It is a gorgeous sunny fall morning. The trees are glowing with color on our street as the sun illuminates their leaves. Most of the trees near us are boasting my very favorite color: yellow. How can I not enjoy that!

I am fortunate to live in a wooded area out a bit from town. We chose this space to purposefully be nestled in the woods. My surroundings have always been important to me.

The outdoors is where I can most easily center myself.

My husband and I enjoyed a long walk in the woods yesterday at a state park an hour and a half north in a community we once lived. It has been a place we have gravitated to since very early in our relationship. It feels a bit like home there.

In the many journeys’ our lives have traversed, we’ve found ourselves going back there for a bit of respite. It could be for an afternoon on the shores of Lake Michigan, a long walk on the trails in the woods or a weekend camping trip. That is where many of our conversations involving questions about the future, thoughts about life challenges and obstacles, and celebrations of surviving difficult times have taken place.

There is a comfort having those conversations in the midst of tranquil surroundings.

The colors of fall are a gift to enjoy and to be grateful for too. There is beauty in every season when we allow ourselves the opportunity to pause and reflect and soak it in.

There are gifts to enjoy and be grateful for in every season of our lives as well.

Having weathered through many life seasons, challenges, and celebrations we know in this midlife that life goes on and we do too. We have experience to draw on and know so more about ourselves. We recognize more readily that things work out just as they are meant to do. We’ve learned so much about life.

Our lives have rich illuminating color in this fall season of our life! I am grateful for every one of those rich colors too!

What gifts are you grateful for in this fall season of your life?