Sweet September, full of the movement from summer to fall, a change in the view, climate, and schedules to throw us full throttle into…TRANSITION!
Often, it’s welcome. At times, it throws us into full anxiety with fluctuation in our calendars, workloads, and activities.
I get it. There may be sports practices, ballgames, band competition, dance classes, and events that make the “squeeze into fitting it all in” hopeless and weary, at best.
Until we get into that new “fall groove”, the change in the schedules, weather (or perhaps allergies), causes a need for more sleep. It’s like we emulate the slowing down of the trees and landscape that are changing colors and losing leaves to prepare for winter.
So…how do we brace for transition with grace?
Perhaps, it’s just entering the season full of gratitude. Gratitude for the relief from the heat and for the rain. Thankfulness for the beauty that fall brings. Grateful for a new season full of color, fall activities, and gathering around campfires.
Opening your closet to empty out the summer clothing to replace it with a warmer wardrobe may be welcome.
Adding new fall touches to your home with pumpkins and accessories that add a bit of warmth, welcome, and coziness are in the air.
But may I warn you that something else may sneak into your lives during this time of transition?
Comparison.
Right in the middle of sports play, events, wardrobe changes, and even adding in fall home décor, a little nudge may find its way into your thoughts and hearts…comparison that may seem harmless.
There’s a tiny voice that may make you feel “less than” in the middle of it all, and if you have kids in the middle of it, they may feel it with the volume turned up.
We often jump to social media sites for fall ideas or watch as others decorate their homes inside or out, and then that tiny word pops up again, leaving you with the glaring feeling that somehow you don’t measure up.
It’s not productive or helpful or often even recognizable when those things creep in.
It’s like when your kids say, “I don’t want something because it’s not “in”. “
Or perhaps, perfectionism or others who do better cause us to hold back or “not try”.
What’s the trigger for you?
May I suggest that as you seek awareness of that word in the middle of the fall transitioning that you don’t allow those feelings to live in your mind, family, or spaces. Don’t give it room to take root.
Toss it out with the dead flowers that are being replaced in your planters.
Give way to beauty and what brings you joy and thankfulness this month, friends.
Just like those pumpkins and gourds that are each created differently, and beautifully, so are you and others in your world.
Don’t forget to celebrate the uniqueness and individuality AND the successes of those around you, without the “comparison tiny voice” whispering in your ear.
Let this time of transition move you to what you are designed and created to do.
Let that September transition with full gusto and exuberance and gatherings that bring joy this month!
