25 Nov What we can learn from trees in autumn
While I was hiking in the woods this autumn, I was enchanted by its beauty. Trees were dressed up in splendid shades of yellow, orange and red. Their colourful leaves depicted against a blue sky. Some leaves whirled down, peacefully, here and there lightened up by beams of golden sunlight.
The trees were celebrating autumn and I felt delighted to be amongst them, walking through this festive forest. And it was then, that I realized how much we can learn from these marvellous autumn trees.
How to let go
By shedding their leaves in autumn, trees show us how to let go. They let go of their leaves, with ease. They don’t cling to them, they don’t try to hold on to them, nor are they attached to them. Trees just let go.
Why we should let go
Trees let go of their leaves to survive winter, to withstand the cold. Letting go to endure hard times. It’s something that we could also apply to our lives. When faced with challenging times, the answer might be a simple ‘let it go.’ Let go of your struggle, your resistance, your inner fight. Let go of your worries and fears, your expectations and limitations.
But letting go isn’t always easy. Sometimes it takes time to accept situations as they are. At those moments we are fighting against life instead of flowing with it. This struggle causes stress or emotional pain. But if we surrender and accept life as it is, when we give up our fight, we relax and we will feel better, connected with ourselves and life again.
The beauty of letting go
With their splendid autumn colours, trees show us how beautiful endings can be. And they teach us how beautiful it can be to let go.
Do you recognize this in your own life? Have you ever felt lighter or more energized after giving away stuff, abandoning a situation or job, or saying goodbye to a person who didn’t fit into your life anymore?
Like autumn trees we can also celebrate endings. By celebrating projects that have come to an end, by doing a goodbye ritual, by celebrating we had the courage to let go, or by practicing gratitude, for example. When feeling sad that something is over, we can also choose to be grateful for what has been, for lessons learned and for sweet memories. We can choose to feel blessed for these experiences and precious moments in our life. This way letting go can be empowering.
To move with the seasons
Like seasons come and go, like leaves appear and disappear, everything in life will pass.
Life is impermanent. Every day the day passes into the night. Moments pass without ever coming back again. By being aware of this ongoing flow, letting go might become more easily, embracing it as something natural in life. Because life asks us to let go, to move with the tides, with the seasons.
To be authentic
What’s left after a tree has lost its leaves, is a ‘naked’ tree, the core of the tree. This is another lesson we can learn from trees shedding their leaves; to find real strength in being vulnerable and authentic by letting go of our masks, defences and anything else that’s hiding who we truly are.
Having faith
Trees shed their leaves in autumn, knowing spring will come to grow new ones.
Endings will be followed by new beginnings.
So let go and have faith that a spring will come in which you will blossom.
Let go, and have faith that a spring will come in which you will blossom.
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