Stop and Watch the Leaves

Ok, so it's usually "Stop and Smell the Roses" but this isn't exactly the time of year to do that. So instead, I will send you a challenge and then tell you my story. I want you to take some time this week to stop and look at all the trees and their changing colors. I want you to watch the leaves fall to the ground and not dread having to rake them. I want you to watch as each little leaf makes its journey through the air to the ground. Finally, if you do have leaves to rake, I want you to rake them up into a pile and toss some into the air letting them fall onto you like you did as a child. So tell me, are you going to take my challenge? If you did, tell me about it.

Today I was waiting patiently for someone and I noticed the rapid speed at which the leaves were falling from the trees. I quickly became lost as I watched them. Some leaves fell quickly to the ground like lead weights but others floated through the air, gently fluttering as they fell to their destination.

After watching them for a good 10 minutes, I got out of my car and stood under the tree and laughed as the leaves fell down around me. Some would land in my hair, others would find their way to the top of my car, and one had the audacity to thunk me in the head. I'm still trying to figure out what hit me that hurt so much but luckily it didn't give me a bruise... yet.

It was so surreal standing there watching the leaves and it made me feel good about being alive. Even though I've been enjoying things like the full moon, a gentle spring rain, and the power of lightening all my life, I've never really stopped to watch the normal, subtle things in life. The leaves falling are just one of many of these.

Sometimes, in our busy lives, we need to remind ourselves of the small miracles of nature that occur around us all the time. I also realized, standing there under the catalpa tree, that even the small things in life have a lesson attached to them. The leaves looked so beautiful and free as they fell to the ground to return to the earth in which gave them life. There was no fear, no remorse, just beauty. I told myself, as I stood there in the slowly piling leaves, that I wish for my own end to be as beautiful and free. Most importantly, I know that if I continue to look at the positives in everything tossed my way, I will accomplish this goal when the time comes.

Remember, we all will have a time in which we will have to face death. Will you be able to face it with no regrets, no fear, and accept the beauty of eternity?