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From Summer to Fall: Change is Beautiful

Meditation | Meditation for Beginners

Things, people, places do not change. What changes is simply the way we perceive the world.

The seasonal transition from summer to fall reminds me that when we experience change in our lives, we are literally handed the opportunity to stay grounded in who we innately are. Just like leaves revert back to their original color and eventually shed where only the roots of trees remain; even nature shows us this is true.

When leaves change color on a tree, the tree remains a tree. When leaves fall off and expose bare branches and trunk, the tree remains a tree.  In fact, we see more of the tree when it stands exposed and yet our mind looks upon it and determines, "That tree looks so different now!"

Our Perspective on Change

ChangeIsBeautiful_Fall

I did a mini time-lapse photography exercise to capture the essence of change from a witness standpoint. The beauty of it all got me thinking that we can view all forms of change in the way we marvel at seasonal change. We can literally sit still with anything we feel is a change to our norm and watch how our norm is not in danger of changing at all unless we wish to view it as such.

Change is a beautiful gift that reminds us while we cannot control what happens outside of us, we can always control the way we respond.

Like many, I've experienced a lot of change. The most challenging change has been a divorce, but rather than allow it to make me a bitter, resentful person, I chose very early on to sit with it and recognize I have other choices. I chose instead to view it as liberation from something that no longer served me so that I may be more open to the abundance of new people and opportunities.

Through this practice of sitting in the middle of all the swirling change around me, I became stronger and more comfortable with the raw vulnerability of who I am. This practice is also rooted in that of mindfulness, whereby we simply breathe with each moment sans judgment so that our choice of response stems from love and compassion.

When change occurs, we get closer to the truth of who we are.

When we are grounded, we can be a witness to external circumstances, and recognize our habitual reactions. Rather than act on them right away, practice choosing a more appropriate response that fits the mold of this very moment. This is how we remain alive and exuberant. This is our mindfulness.

Wayne Dyer said, "Change the way you look at things and things you look at will change." I too believe that we are literal creators of our lives.

Image credit: Alissa Kepas

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