It is difficult for me to give up summer, as it is for many people. Summer is my favorite of the season as I often feel a sort of weightlessness about life during the warmer weather months. Summer seems less heavy to me than the cooler weather months. But often, while lamenting summer’s end, I do try to recognize the beauty of autumn and what autumn represents. Autumn affords us the opportunity to welcome change and to let go of the things that weigh us down.

Like the seasons, life affords us similar opportunities. Life is about change. It is about evolution. We can lament the end of one season and be slow to accept the new beauty of the next or we can do so with grace and recognize that we can change and grow, we can evolve. We as human beings are constantly changing. We are not the same person we were five or 10 years ago. We may not be the same people we were yesterday and we may be a new version of ourselves tomorrow.

One of the things I like best about the changing seasons of ourselves is that if we allow it, we can come to realize that welcoming change and letting go of the things that may be weighing us down can mean so many things. For some, it may mean taking a leap of faith and changing careers. For others, it may mean taking up new hobbies or taking a class. For others still, it may mean letting go of relationships that no longer serve us. All of this may be challenging, but the less we fight change the easier it is to become the people we always were meant to be.

It can be hard to engage in change, but I am convinced that doing so moves us closer to who we really want to be, who we are meant to be. Yes, changing careers can be scary and doing so takes a lot of courage. But if you no longer are passionate about or enjoying your work, doing so may be your best next move. Taking up a new hobby may require hours of practice and some trial and error, but in the end your horizons will be broadened and you could be better for it.

Letting go of relationships that no longer serve us could prove even more challenging. People become part of us. If you stop and ask yourself about the purpose certain people serve in your life, you may come to realize that some of your relationships no longer serve you. You may come to realize that some of your relationships are lopsided or transactional or one-dimensional. You may come to realize that some of your relationships leave you feeling worse about yourself and your life more so than they do good about yourself and your life. Part of embracing change means giving credence to these realizations and either changing the way you interact with such people or distancing yourself from those people. Maybe it means setting and enforcing better boundaries. Maybe it means ending the relationship.

The change of seasons can serve as a wake-up call to really evaluate ourselves and our lives. What is working for you and what, really, is not? Are you happy in your work? In your relationships? Do you need to make some kind of change to find your way to happiness and to become the person you want to be and were meant to be? Embracing change means focusing on the possibilities that newness affords us. Embracing change means that you are open to evolving as a human being. It means stepping outside of your comfort zone, or discomfort zone, as the case may be. Embracing change means that you are willing to welcome new opportunities to grow as a person. Are you able to do that? Can you take a step toward change and do something your future self will thank you for?

~ Karri Christiansen, MSW, LSW, CADC, CCTP