Soon the leaves will begin to fall. They will gather where the winds sends them. They will have their own conference. They will stay there until they are sent somewhere else…or until they get blown away by the leaf blower or sucked up by the leaf sucker thingy or mulched by the lawnmower.
They will have served their purpose in the cycle of nature and with the falling of leaves comes the fall. Time for boots and jeans and sweaters. Time for pumpkins and apples and sitting outside by the firepit. Which I don’t have, but would sit by if I had one!
After fall, it will be time for winter.
There will be cold weather. And snow. And ice. And while it isn’t my favorite time of year, it is a necessary time of year. It is a time of hibernation. A time of re-thinking the way I have done things in the past and look forward to the spring when things will emerge a new.
This past year has been an interesting one for me. My meningitis diagnosis was just a year ago. I spent time in the hospital. It took a long time to recover. And like the seasons of the year, my life goes through seasons too.
I am no longer at the job I loved because when the job changed, it was no longer a good fit for me.
Finding our “fit” is sometimes a difficult thing to do. I’ve written several times recently about the book Girl Meets Change and how that helped me through this process of change. In the process of leaving a job I loved, I found myself exploring other opportunities. Some I sought out. Others came my way through referrals, but these opportunities have made me realize that I don’t want to stay in the comfortable place I have been in the past.
I want to try new things. Explore new avenues. Leave the fall, walk through the winter and come out next spring a different person.
By the way, I gave away a copy of Girl Meets Change last week. Glenda from Fondly Glenda is the winner. Glenda, I sent you an e-mail requesting your address. If you don’t get it, please let me know.

You wrote this just for me? "And while it isn't my favorite time of year, it is a necessary time of year." Because I'm not a winter girl. 🙂 But yes it's necessary and I need it, and there are things I like about it. Summer is my favorite–freedom from coats and shoes and long sleeves.
Lisa, your comment arrived at the perfect time for me…right about the time I wondered why I hit publish! Thank you…
Thanks for the reflections. I don't know if caterpillars feel pain when they struggle to get out of their cocoon, but I think they must "wonder" at the difference between crawling around and floating on the wind. Change often brings anxiety (or at least unrest) but God's plan always involves a "floating" experience, even if we have to wait for eternity to find it.
Change does cause a certain level of anxiety for me, but I am finding that the more I let go, the less stressful the experience. It's always nice to see your face here. 🙂
I love fall and spring but winter is my favorite–I love cold, cloudy, rainy days–here in the south we don't get a lot of snow–I might not like it so much if I were snowed in–maybe it is because I am basically lazy and love to spend hours curled up with a good book reading by the fire–when the weather is gloomy, I don't feel guilty for doing that–if it's bright and sunshiny, I feel like I need to be accomplishing something–weird creature I am!
Winter is your favorite? Now that you explain it I can see why. How are you after your knee surgery?