Metaphysical Seasoning

The crepe myrtle trees, once with boughs of lush, Kelley green leaves and pink boughs as inviting as carnival cotton candy are starting to change. The leaves, now yellowing, withering and drying in the sun go almost unnoticed with each passing day. The blossoms, once vibrant, soft and a joy for observing and smelling, are now nothing but fodder for the wind. They coat the grass and street with their fading glory, only to trampled underfoot or wheel. If you are fortunate enough to be a passing pedestrian and the wind is just right, your exposed skin and clothes will become coated with the small fragile petals of summer. Their soft caress on your skin will go almost unnoticed, that is until a kind stranger or friend gently plucks the dying bloom from your body.

            Yes, summer is over. Across the continent kids are headed back to school, families are planning Sunday football gatherings, invites for Halloween parties are going out in the mail and email across the nation. The weather is cool and crisp in the morning, our vehicles are covered with dew and few people leave their homes without light weight jackets.

            The days are temperate and many people can be found sitting outside on their lunch break trying to absorb the last vestiges of the nutrients of the sun before the bleakness of winter grips us in her icy clutches. Which brings a whole set of other problems. Yet, for now at least, life is pleasant. Relaxing and enjoyable.

            The onslaught of endless hours of work in closed offices while the bitter northern winds chase away the temperate warmth are weeks away. Yes, it is coming up on my favorite time of the year. Fall.

            No more yard work, no humidity that is so thick it makes breathing a chore, furnace like temperatures are no longer the norm and in general, people seem much nicer, at least to me that is. Sure, I’ll miss being able to sit on my porch some nights, or even being able to ride my motorcycle without heavy gear, but it is a nice change from what we’ve been living under.

            All of this leads me up to this; change. Like the seasons, we too change. We may not know it, but we do. I know I have. Seems to be a theme this past three weeks with me. I’m trying to change. I believe it is working. I feel better about everything in my life right now. And, if I’m truthful with myself, not just you, my dear reader, I would have to say I can’t even remember feeling as good as I have in over five years. Which I can only attribute to a series of small yet key changes. All of which add up to some pretty major changes for someone like me.

            Kind of like the way our seasons work. It is the small, almost imperceptible changes that no on notices until there are no more leaves on the trees, or snow is falling all around them and they are having to grab shovels and brooms to clean off their steps and drive ways. This is what is happening with me. With most people I would think.

            Every day, we make decisions either for the better or worse for our lives and eventually we will find ourselves in a better or worse world of our own making. Some decisions will lead us to a life of comfort, living in a nice home, surrounded by people who care about us, and in some cases, we find ourselves in our own prisons. Be they actual or mental, we find ourselves there.

            That thought brought me to this one, how do we make sure we are making the right decision, following the right path, and choosing what is best for our future?

            We can’t. I mean sure, some things are a no-brainer… should I rob a bank for money or try to get a second or third job? Sure the former is sounds like a quick score, but you will wind up in prison or dead. While the latter will leave you exhausted and distant from the ones you are trying to take care of. However; one can be temporary and lead to a permanent fix for your situation and the other one will leave you sitting in a cramped four by six foot cell eating bologna and cheese sandwiches for the next twenty years.

            So, yeah, some choices are easier than others. But what happens when the lines of right and wrong are blurred, when the subtleties of the situation are so convoluted and you have less than a minute to make a decision? Well, I only have one solution for that… Which is this; if you have a history of making good decisions then you will be almost assuredly correct in your initial reaction. However; if your life is filled with making poor decisions and getting into trouble for those choices, stop, reassess the situation and change your mind. Hopefully that will work.

            I wish it were simpler than that. Also, I wish no one would be faced with tough decisions. Life would be so much easier if we didn’t have to. Much more boring too. I know I don’t like boring, nor do most of the people I know. For the most part, we as humans are flawed individuals. Always making mistakes, falling on our faces, making fools of ourselves and then picking ourselves up, laughing at our own hubris and moving on. Hopefully a bit wiser and definitely a bit more dinged up physically, emotionally and mentally.

            There are no better lessons in life than the ones we teach ourselves at the cost of our own pride, dignity and sanity. The course of our lives are like the seasons, we spend time full of wide eyed wonder, followed by youthful arrogance, then quite suffering for our offspring and finally, hopefully in quiet comfort and nostalgic thought as we observe the new generations enjoying their own seasons.

            Seasons they don’t even realize they are so carelessly meandering through, but seasons we see with our 20/20 hindsight of a lifetime filled with experience. We are only wise because of the lessons we learned from the mistakes we’ve made in our lives and the changes those lessons have wrought onto us.

            So a toast, so to speak, of the new and upcoming season of earth and our lives.

            Have a great week.