Fall is my favorite season, and here we are in September—the colors, sounds, scents, and knowing a break from yard work is just around the corner brings a sense of calm and closure. They say summer is lazy and hazy, but for me, it’s autumn. I like the time of being in-between blazing heat and icy sidewalks, the need for a light jacket, and the time to reflect, evaluate, and plan.

I appreciate living in a place with four seasons. Winter, spring, summer, and fall help me live while I live. The change of seasons involves welcoming and letting go, and with each change, balance, the secret to mental health, arrives, giving me a nudge to shed yesterday and embrace tomorrow.

Maintaining balance is a challenge for most of us. Moderation in food and drink, family and work, spiritual needs, spending habits, and sustaining friendships are just a few examples of human juggling acts. Our total body health—physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual—require balance. We also need the ability to regroup and change habits that push us from the middle of the road to the ditches of life. The changing of seasons is like a hand reaching out to help our life events stop somewhere between perf

ect and devastating; life tosses us both, but in truth, perfect isn’t possible, and devastating doesn’t have to be permanent.

My mind is my power, and if I manage my thoughts with balance and moderation, my whole body benefits, especially my mental health. The same applies to you.

As leaves float like feathers, the nights get longer, weeds die, and long sleeves reappear in my closet, I breathe a little deeper, longer, and sweeter. I feel myself replacing the hustle of summer with quieter moments for memories and plans for the future.

Colorado is ideal for those who enjoy the hot sun fading into cool afternoons, cozy evenings with snow falling, and anticipation of tulips popping through the soil. Hope comes with each season, and we do nothing to earn or pay for it. It is like a gift wrapped in shimmering iridescent green paper tied up with a big gold bow.

I suggest being sad as summer goes away and then glad for the same reasons. Summer responsibilities in Colorado seem to evaporate with the lowering temperatures, only with new ones reappearing. Aren’t we lucky to have a climate that automatically encourages us four times a year to reimagine and design a new “normal?” Join me in celebrating autumn, and as you rake your yards and clean up flower beds, throw negative thoughts into the heap of debris—they interfere with new season joy.

Until the next time: Live while you live.

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