When the fall season rolls in, there’s a quote I often see shared on social media and various blogs.
Overlaying an image of colorful autumn leaves upon a picturesque landscape, it reads:
"The trees are about to show us how beautiful it is to let things go."
When I first heard this saying many years ago, I remember feeling warm and fuzzy, like suddenly the challenges that had felt so hard to move on from, could be let go of as a beautiful part of life.
However, after hearing it a few more times, I started to get annoyed, because it seemed to only tell part of the story.
Letting go doesn’t always feel beautiful, and it sure doesn’t always appear picture-perfect.
Because…
Underneath those colorful leaves there are others rotting away, with slugs and bugs munching on what’s already shed. Soon, the whole leaf pile begins to turn into mush, and if that tree happens to be in our back yard, we shove those leaves in the trash after they no longer appear beautiful anymore.
From the outside, we can say “oh how beautiful!”
We might even take a picture of ourselves at just the right moment, with a stunning leafy background to share with people we know.
But for the tree itself, and all its parts, the full picture of letting go can include a sludgy buggy mess.
So if you’re in the process of letting go, and feel pressure to do it beautifully, know this…
Letting go can be both beautiful and mucky all at once.
Letting go can allow for transformation and growth, while also feeling like a disintegration of what was once beautiful in your life.
And, unlike trees that shed all of their leaves each fall, you don’t have to let go of everything all at once.
Some trees are evergreen, and keep most of their leaves all year. They steadily drop old pieces as the months pass, while replacing them with fresh growth, getting taller and stronger as they go.
So as we enter this new season, I wonder…
What kind of letting go are you experiencing?
A full leaf dropping?
Or are you more like an evergreen? Gradually shedding old pieces while replacing with new growth?
And perhaps most importantly…
What’s your next step as you begin this new season of life?
The possibilities are infinite.
Growth isn’t always easy, and neither is letting go…but one is needed for the other, and something far greater than what we see on the surface is at work.
And this, I believe, is the true beauty of it all.
With gratitude,
Lena
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