Seasons - Autumn

Wisdom comes with time and changes. I was told a few weeks back, 'I want small surprises and big changes' (I paraphrase).

Here you have them, looking all around you and popping up all the time! Or rather, here you have them, deciding on the party they will throw you in six-months time.

It is Autumn: the Earth is getting ready to hibernate, to sequester itself in order to gestate the wonderful gifts it shall bring us in Spring. It is the time to gather the last harvests, to choose the crops to be planted, to plant and then protect them. Similarly, it is the time to find within ourselves what it is we really Want, to set in motion the plans to reap those things, and to understand the value of patience.

We live in a society of instant gratification - we decide we want something, so we go and get it. Simple. Quick. Painless. Patienceless. It can be a wonderful way to live, but it has its drawbacks. It is wonderful in what menial desires are concerned, as we meet them to instantly forget about them (no mess, no stress). On the other hand, it is a drawback in what understanding the value of what we get is concerned, for we seem unable to appreciate worth devoid of suffering / struggle. Thus, we are deprived of surprises, those little snippets of gifts, because we just miss the fact that there is a gift in all that! Worse still, we are thwarted in our ability to bring about changes to our lives, as we have un-learned how to work towards goals.

In this Autumnal period, we can all look at the stars before it is too cold to do so, to experience the wonder of receiving the gift of their light millions of years later on. Imagine that: some precious, amazing elements in your life have been on their way to you from before the time this planet was solid! Others, like clear water in the rivers, fruit in the trees or birds singing have been waiting for you from before there were humans around! Marvelous, generous, enriching gifts that make your life more beautiful, more comfortable, better - and they all have one thing in common: it has taken TIME to perfect them!

We all want our life to share in more moments to appreciate the "fine things in life", but clearly we need one thing: time! Take time, and go inside yourself, like the Earth. Prepare yourself to wait, like the Earth. Discover you inner Autumn and... wait.