It’s not fall yet, despite what Starbucks may have you believe. The autumnal equinox is a little over a week away, on September 23. Yet, you may already be feeling fall settling in. I walk almost every day and I see the leaves changing and falling.
Sometimes in life we don’t make the sharp turns that movies and TV would have us think are part and parcel of an exciting life. Not all of our lives have convenient plot points. Change is often gradual, like the seasons. Lately, I’ve been learning to pivot, to observe the transition and not necessarily fixate on the end result or where I would prefer to have things. The art of pivoting, for me, like the trees, is the art of knowing what to let go, when and how. It’s not dropping everything at once in a fury. It’s not uprooting and escaping. It’s knowing what to expand and what to contract at the right time. Pivoting takes a great deal of patience and discernment. It also takes a great deal of faith. Just as a tree lets go of its leaves gracefully, we are challenged to make our changes in life as gracefully and gratefully as possible.
Am I brave enough? I ask myself this question constantly. Am I taking the path of least resistance because it’s more convenient? I see and hear from so many angsty people daily, in person, on my social feeds. And sometimes, I’ve taken the primrose path of least resistance or sat on the sidelines or decided to be above the fray.
Kristin West 