The Colors of Fall

The Colors of Fall
It seems like yesterday that I was reflecting on the amazing smell of lilacs blooming in the Spring air. The grass was just starting to grow and the air was becoming warmer each day. Baseball was just getting ready to kick off its season, and I was thinking about the promise of renewal and growth that comes to us each year.

Funny how time goes by so fast. As I was walking my dogs this morning, I was struck by the fact that Fall has now stepped up to take its turn.

I sometimes get a little sad during the Fall. Not because I don't love it - what’s not to love? Turtlenecks make a comeback, football season begins, and Starbucks serves up Pumpkin Spice Lattes. But then, with Fall comes the end of so much I hold dear. The flowers start to die. The grass turns brown. The air turns colder.

I got to thinking this morning about the leaves changing colors, and how much I love the beautiful reds, yellows, and oranges. What a blessing it is to witness this glorious transformation. But the beauty we see has some interesting reasoning behind it - and please remember I am not a scientist so my explanation will be very rudimentary.

When fall comes, trees understand that the winter will bring less water and light for them to feed on. So, the trees choose to withhold water from their leaves in order to reserve their resources for winter. The lack of water causes the leaves to slowly die – and as they do they are transformed from green to vibrant yellow, orange, red, or purple.

Without the decision to neglect the leaves, we wouldn't get the beauty of the leaves changing, and the trees may not be able to withstand the difficult winter long enough to bloom again in the spring. The changing leaves remind us that making difficult decisions, though hard at the time, can bring about magnificence in our world.

Do you have a hard decision you have to make soon? If so, what magnificence can come from it?

The Beauty in Letting Go

I am a control freak. There is really no other way to say it nor no easier way to phrase it. I just always feel the need to control things.

You can imagine then, how well I do on airplanes. Flying itself doesn't scare me. I recognize that I have a better chance of dying in a car crash on the way to the airport than I do in the actual plane. But boy, does being 32,000 feet up in the air in a big metal box as a passenger scare the living heck out of me. And here is why - I have absolutely no control over anything happening while on that plane other than whether to order coffee or a glass of wine.

So, as I sit on a plane right now, on my way home from the 3rd annual Building Champions Experience, I have to wonder why it is I am such a control freak to begin with. So I figured I would reflect about my control freak tendencies and see what I come up with.

Why I am a control freak could come from many different avenues. It could come from childhood and the fact that I was the youngest child in a family of three. Growing up with a terminally ill sister that had immediate and constant needs for as long as I can remember up until her death in 1988 could explain a lot.

It could come from the fact that I struggle with insecurity and continually try to be better while feeling like I will never be good enough.

It may simply be the fact that no one I know ever wants to die in a fiery plane crash.

Either way, issues of control tend to hang over many people I know. Do you ever feel helpless or frustrated in a situation where you have no control over the outcome?

So you can imagine how surprised I was when just 4 short days earlier, on my way to the Building Champions Experience, I looked out the window at the most beautiful scene I have ever seen out of an airplane window and at once felt peace at 32,000 feet. The clouds had formed in the shape of a million cotton balls lined up to shield the view of the ground from me. The mountains near San Francisco rose above the clouds and seemed to glorify in their presence so high up. The blue sky above was calling out its song of beauty, bragging as if it had never been this beautiful. I was in awe. It was as if I had finally relaxed around the control issue and felt no need to ever have again. There was - at that moment - beauty in letting go. It was, quite possibly, one of the most amazing moments I have ever experienced. Like if I had died at the moment, I would have died completely satisfied.

What is it you need to let go of today that stops you from living the life you truly deserve? I promise you - if you do let go you'll be happier than you ever have.