Looking at the beautiful reds, gold and orange colors the trees are bringing to my attention everywhere I go these days, I am reminded of the shift that is happening once again. Mother nature letting us know change is happening! Change is something we all experience consistently in our lives. It can be something that makes us very uncomfortable. Do you think the tree starts worrying about the beautiful green leaves changing color in October at the end of August? "It is just too soon, I'm not ready yet to change to red. You know what a big adjustment that is for me every year."  or how about this "What do you mean I am going to lose all my leaves! I am not prepared for that to happen!" This sounds pretty silly!  Yet change in nature is happening all around us and teaching us to adapt and notice what is occurring and how natural the flow of change can be. Also how quickly a gusty fall wind can swoop in and take all but a few leaves from a tree!

Worrying about the future and being immobilized by the thoughts of how and what might happen or that it will happen too soon, brings stress to a situation which may never actually happen. We see this kind of thinking modeled all around us everyday. "What if's" are easy to find in most situations. Many learn to think that worrying about a person we love is a form of loving them. We think worry thoughts are normal and they really aren't. They certainly are thoughts and get our attention. Worry comes from our fears. False Evidence Appearing Real! We convince ourselves through believing our stories and we are so good at adding to the stories with more thoughts.

Go through a day and start noticing all the little changes you are experiencing all day long. This is a great exercise to see which ones make you uncomfortable, which don't bother you at all, or maybe they all bother you at varying degrees. You will get to see the level of your ability to shift and roll through transitions and changes. I like to do this to see how many changes can happen in a day before I start to really feel irritated and not able to deal with them. When I have reached my threshold, I usually try to sit and meditate or stop and relax with a few breaths.

 Can you imagine if everything in nature reacted the way humans react to situations?  It would be quite an experience for us to be the receiver of the fear and confusion we project. I wonder if the animals, trees, mountains, streams, oceans had a voice what would they say about all the stress and worry we send out into the world each day. Projecting balance and harmony could be a gift to yourself and those in your life. Change is definitely something we can count on to show up! It is a great teacher!

Breathe, Pause and Be Still,

Bobbe