A fun fact about me is that the fall is my favourite time of the year.
I love watching the leaves change colours, and feeling warm and cozy in my sweater while I am out on a walk. I also love pumpkin spice, and have fully accepted that this is my personality from September to November, and my blood type during the month of October.
All jokes aside, and beyond all of the cozy things (and my obsession with pumpkin spice everything), there is something about the fall that always calls me to slow down. Maybe it’s the crisp air, or the way the days start to feel a little shorter - either way - what I do know is that watching the leaves fall from the trees every year reminds me how beautiful it can be to let things go and welcome a season of change.
I find this especially interesting because I have spent so much time with clients who talk about their ambivalence to change, and often ask me the question: “How do I know if the change I am making is the “right” one?”. Now, being in the midst of change myself, I find myself asking the same question.
This experience has reminded me that none of us get to skip the uncertainty that comes with change, and I want to share some thoughts that have been coming up for me during this time, because maybe they can help you.
- There may not be One “Right” Choice
It seems that we can get stuck searching for the perfect answer; the one that seems to have “no risk” and “no regret”, but life rarely works that way. Instead of asking whether a choice is “right”, one question that has been helpful for me is asking whether my choice feels true to who I am right now.
- Feeling Unsure doesn’t mean you are Making a Mistake
As we know, being in a season of change is not always easy. It can feel messy, and it can leave you feeling unsure - some days you might feel excited about what is ahead, and other days you might wonder what on earth you are doing.
When these thoughts come forward for me, I have been reminding myself that messy does not mean wrong, and that feeling unsure is not proof that I am making a mistake. (Remember: fall is messy (with leaves scattered everywhere), and yet we still trust the process, and call it beautiful).
- Sometimes Letting Go is Making Room for Yourself
A big lesson for me recently has been that two things can exist at once; I can love something, and realize I need to let go.
This can be a challenging concept for many, including myself, because we are often sold the idea that we should only walk away when things are broken or painful; when in reality, sometimes you need to let go, just to make room for yourself.
- Rest is not the end of the Story
Finally, I have been reminding myself that rest is not the end of the story. Winter (which is just around the corner), can look like a season where nothing is happening, but underneath the surface, the roots are getting stronger.
Remember: Pausing is not failing, and it is not falling behind, it is simply part of the cycle.
I have done so much growing over the last several years; transitioning from a fifteen-year career in human resources into counselling, and I have enjoyed every minute of it, especially being at Serebro Health. At Serebro, I have had the chance to work with the best team, where I learned so much about ways to support myself and my clients. I am truly grateful for the people, the conversations, and the lessons that came with it.
Now, as I write my last blog post, I am reflecting on the future. I am looking forward to taking a bit of a winter to slow down, to rest, and to reconnect with myself so I can experience a rebirth in the spring. I don’t have every detail figured out, and I am learning to be okay with that.
If any of this resonated, and you are finding yourself in your own season of change right now, I hope you can be gentle with yourself. I hope you can trust that letting go can be an act of courage and care and most of all, I hope you remember that, just like the trees, you don’t need to know exactly what the spring will bring to trust that it is coming. So, grab your coziest sweater and a warm drink (pumpkin spice, of course), and go for a walk. Let the leaves remind you that change can be beautiful.
