It's Your Turn — Choose

We are in the midst of the most beautiful time of the  year — autumn. Okay, I might be biased. This has always been my favorite season. Maybe it’s because I am filled with relief after the heat of summer. Maybe it’s the brilliant splashes of earth tone colors. Maybe it’s the fact that my birthday happens just days after the autumnal equinox. Maybe I love the season for reasons I am not even conscious of.

I do not know the reason, but autumn has always pulled me back into the moment. As the leaves turn colors, crinkle up, and drop from the trees, I catch glimpses of tree skeletons. In those bare-boned trees, I recognize that although change is inevitable, I do have a choice. I can be stuck in the moment or realize that the letting go is happening with or without me.

So choose — to let go of the inevitable or cling to what no longer fits. I can hear you saying, “But, is that really a choice?  What kind of choice is the lesser?” To which I reply, “Yes, it is choice. Sometimes the lesser is greater than we ever realized.” 

In the choosing we acknowledge that when we cling to what no longer fits, we suffer. Because life is difficult until it is not. With each choice, we choose the degree of suffering we experience. Clinging to something that is ill fitting to our soul deepens suffering. The more we choose to ignore the inevitable, the more deeply roots of suffering twine into our soul until we can no longer separate the suffering from who we truly are. We become the suffering.

We make a choice but don’t have to be stuck in that choice. We can always decide to try something else. And, in that decision, we practice self compassion. We choose to love our self, to forgive our self, to heal those wounded parts of our self. 

Maybe we only choose a different path when we realize that we can stay in the ugly of suffering or we can choose a different way. Choice is always painted with the brush of beauty. For choice is fresh air, ruffling of leaves, a revelation of what is buried beneath our suffering.

The best thing about choice? No matter what we choose, if we don’t like the choice, we can always choose again. Regardless of what happens, we can combat any choice induced suffering with self-compassion. When we practice self-compassion we love our self, forgive our self, heal those parts of us wounded by our experiences and misinformed choices.

I am not saying any choice is easy. Seldom does one single choice spin our life 180 degrees. I am not saying that we will never experience radical change with one choice. In reality a change begins with that first choice of a series. Through rolling decisions, we clear suffering, heal wounds, and ultimately come home to ourself.

Life is a series of choices — rolling moments that invite us to mimic the autumn trees. To rejoice in life as it changes, to let go of what is shriveled and no longer fits, to willingly prepare for that period of dormancy, to know that rebirth is ongoing, continuous. 

So, no matter what I choose, I commit to let go and practice self-compassion to alleviate my suffering. How about you? 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating life choices. The result of time with Van? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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