Autumn Leaves

The other day as I was driving home I took the time to pull over and watch the leaves fall to the ground. Each leaf as it fell was dancing as it came to it’s final resting place. The leaves: red, brown, purple, yellow.: each came to the same place. I don’t know why that hit me hard.

With how short our life span is, we tend to live it as fast as we can without stopping to savor every moment. We sometimes live our lives the way we eat food when we are on the run: in big chunks and fast.  Watching those leaves helped to remind me it is okay to slow down, look around, breathe and enjoy the moment that I am in. To enjoy those around me without distraction and to enjoy their stories of life and to see how their lives were shaped over the course of many years and how that culminated into what they love to do today. Ask them why they love that certain hobby or sport so much. Those stories are often those most compelling and opens a side to them you did not know or understand. Life stories are the vaults into their past. We have to be trusted not only to keep them safe but also to be kept alive in our minds.

Be the ground to someone’s Autumn Leaf. Catch them as they fall to the ground and take in those stories that will enrich you and make you stronger.

As I fall I wonder? Do I still matter or what purpose do I have. Will the ground, filled with life, take in my memories or will I still live on in someone’s mind? Will I be trampled on, crushed into this ground or will someone stop to truly look at me and see what beauty I can offer? Though I blend into this kaleidoscope of earthen tone I still am noticeable. From atop my branch I once hung haughtily, green and full of life. Time however, has humbled me. Though green my leaf was, it now has shades or red, brown, and purple. Flexible to an extreme, now becoming brittle I slowly am. That day I fell I gained a new perspective from the ground. What I once thought was a pitiful existence I see as the force that gave me strength. Smiling from above I now smile from below. I can now see the sky and how beautiful….how beautiful that tears abounded. Afforded the opportunity to lend my strength to those who are new. I was noticed and held for an eternity and put back down. I still was beautiful. I was still loved. I can now lend my strength to this tree. I can now rest. I can now see. Autumn leaves….Autumn leaves.