Remember the fallen (leaf)

Maple leaf down
London, ON
August 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We can choose to look at a fallen leaf from two very different perspectives:

1) The sad one, where summer gives way to autumn, and we fret over dropping temperatures, the return to school and work and life, and the end of the innocence of a season most of us wish would last a little longer; or

2) The happy one, where summer gives way to autumn, and we welcome the fact that we were given another season at all, and we're thankful to be around for whatever it is that the universe throws at us next.

I suspect you already know which door I prefer, and why. As much as I appreciate the stress of shifting gears back into a grind that sometimes feels more cold and grey than we'd like it to be, I don't much see the value in spending our limited time moping around about the change in season.

The calendar is going to move forward - in the same, unrelenting direction and at the same unrelenting speed - whether we like it or not. We can't change any of it. Only our response to it lies within our control. I can hate the season to the depths of my soul, but that won't delay or cushion its arrival.

So today I woke up, hooked the dog up to her leash and headed out into a chillier, darker world. But I headed out. I got the day.

Whining about the leaf in our path wasn't on the agenda today. If I'm lucky enough to get another tomorrow, it won't be, then, either.

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