To Autumn With Intent

 

The dog-days-of-summer are winding down, giving way to weather more like a finicky cat. Chilly mornings yield to hot afternoons that turn into grab-your-jacket evenings. Nighttime gets down right cold.

 

To me, autumn signals a throw back to when I was a child and September meant back-to-school, get down to business and learn; always seeking new points to ponder and finding questions to ask at every turn. I loved it!

 

Smiles can’t hide from the memories of tomato soup and crackers, gray skies drenching us with rain and winds that could cut through any coat. The promises of snow on the horizon and the teasing of an Indian summer were the backdrop to countless hopes and expectations of what the new school year would bring.

 

 

 

Blending in with the scenery, not noticed in any crowd, I could watch without hiding, observing everything, wondering what the future held for me. In my own little world, I had purpose – though I didn’t always understand what it was.

 

This colorful season makes me want to get busy, as if summer was for relaxing, like the summer vacations from childhood. Fall means it’s time to get serious.

 

 

 

What’s on your to-do list? Leave your excuses in the shadows of summer and prepare to cross off the things on that list with determination.

 

Breathe in the aroma of crunching leaves beneath your feet. Close your eyes and experience that sunshine on your face. Smile more. See what’s in front of you, actually look at it. Listen to the sounds around you. Touch things just for the sake of feeling them. Keep the promises you’ve made to yourself. Today begins a new season in your life. The past has passed – tomorrow is new, intentionally create it.

 

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)