How You Can Learn to Let Go: Following Mother Nature's Lead

It seems that we only have to blink our eyes a few times and Fall is upon us. It's here, and I can't help but be grateful and inspired by mother nature's gift.

Though not one to favor the lower temperatures of this particular season, I cannot help but to gaze in wonder all around me. 

The trees are blanketed in the leaves that they have been housing for months now, but those same leaves take on a magnificent smattering of color for the child in all of us to gaze fondly at. 

Soon, the trees will easily and freely release the leaves that have  adorned them lovingly and loyally for all of their life. 

Some trees are able to acquire more leaves than others. It is also true that the trees will lose a lot of their covering from gruesome winds, still some foliage may have been pulled from their home by a curious child, or fallen off when the tree couldn't replenish them. 

These same leaves would have stayed with the tree for even longer than their life, had the trees allowed, covering the tree with a muddy color of death. Nonetheless, the tree lets them go, simply because it is time.

If only we could live our lives the way the trees do, letting go of things that do not serve us, obsessive thoughts, items that clutter our homes that we don't need, insecurities and negativity. 

What are you holding onto that does not serve you anymore? Perhaps it is a friend, a painful memory, a sad song. Whatever it may be, let's all take a lesson from nature and consider it time to let go. 

Accepting Your Mistakes; In Writing And In Life

Disclaimer: Model is just acting bummed.

Making mistakes is an inevitable part of life. There is not one person who doesn't make them.

Sometimes the blunders are tiny inconsequential blips that we easily brush off like eraser remnants from on a page. You continue writing and you do not think twice about it. 

Make larger ones, however, and we berate ourselves, worry if we are up to the task and sometimes even give up.

Inspiration came to me the other day as I was driving. At the time, I was observing a tiny volkswagen that had come to a complete stop in a huge merging lane. 

There were about five other cars behind the car. The others were no doubt feeling the same as I did, that this car stopping was highly unnecessary, perhaps even dangerous.

While the driver of the car in question was probably afraid of getting into an accident, he/she was putting themselves in another kind of danger. There was a big possibility of a collision from behind. 

It is the same in writing and in life, we shouldn't stop doing what we love because we are afraid to make a mistake, or because we have made a mistake in the past. We need to keep going, make adjustments and learn from past errors. We shouldn't stop. 

We have an undeniable tool at our disposal when we experience difficult times. 

We learn the skill of bouncing back, of accepting that we screwed up when something isn't exactly as we hoped it would be. 
                                                                                           

Photo Credit


We point it out to ourselves with razor-like precision, we fix it and move on.  

I have a friend who applied three times to a veterinary school. It was a very competitive application and interview process and twice he did not make the final cut. The third time was the charm.

He never gave up. He is now practicing in his chosen field. I find great inspiration in that. You see, sometimes we can be our worst enemies or our strongest advocates. Keep trying. Believe in your best selves. 

We all have the tenacity to achieve at high levels, and we all have the potential to soar. Sometimes those attributes are just hiding around the corner of a properly utilized mistake.