The autumnal equinox officially ushered in a brand new season, accompanied by the promise of cool and crisp air, gorgeous foliage, family gatherings and plenty of outdoor activities.
Fall can also serve as a special time for self-reflection, balance, awareness and change. It’s Mother Nature’s gentle reminder that we are always growing, developing and evolving.
Sure, sometimes change can be scary, and personal growth certainly isn’t easy. But just as leaves must fall to the ground, we must continuously let go of the status quo – or things that no longer serve us – in order to make room for new possibilities.
I hope you’ll embrace this seasonal transition as I do, and make time for yourself. Breathe, take stock, practice self-care, and consider the kind of growth or balance you want and need.
For added inspiration, here are some of my favorite quotes fitting for this time of year. I wish you a beautiful and meaningful fall.
On Autumn ….
It is the summer’s great last heat,
It is the fall’s first chill: They meet.
— Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt
“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.”
— John Burroughs
“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.”
— Samuel Butler.
“The season for enjoying the fullness of life: partaking of the harvest, sharing the harvest with others, and reinvesting and saving portions of the harvest for yet another season of growth.”
— Denis Waitley
“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.”
— Raquel Franco
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
— Lauren Destefano
On Reflection …
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
― Confucius
“We experience happiness as a series of pleasing moments. They come and go like clouds, unpredictable, fleeting, and without responsibility to our desires. Through honest self-work, reflection, and meditation, we begin to string more of these moments together, creating a web-like design of happiness that drapes around our lives.”
― Tara Stiles
“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”
― Margaret J. Wheatley
“The quieter you become the more you are able to hear.”
― Rumi
On Balance …
“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.”
― Robert Fulgham
“The consistency in your person from home to work is vitally important so that you are in total balance at all times. Being out of balance means that your true self will start to be confused with what you pretend to be.”
― Catherine Pulsifer
“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
― Dolly Parton
“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices.”
― Betsy Jacobson
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”
― Thomas Merton
On Awareness …
“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.”
― James Thurber
“Every human has four endowments; self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change.”
― Stephen Covey
“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” ― Billie Jean King
“Awareness is all about restoring your freedom to choose what you want instead of what your past imposes on you.”
― Deepak Chopra
On Change …
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu
“Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you’ve changed, by believing. Once you’ve changed, other things start to follow. Isn’t that the way it works?”
― Diane Duane, So You Want to Be a Wizard
Deseri Garcia
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