Summer is coming to an end, even though it is still August I feel the gentle coolness of fall creeping in. As much as I love sunshine, and living in Seattle for most of my life definitely has made me appreciate days without clouds, I must admit that I am looking forward to the fall. For me…the season of gratitude.
Yes, fall represents gratitude to me. Oh sure, there is Thanksgiving, but more than that a deep appreciation of all the colors, seasons and experiences of life. The changing seasons portray a metaphor for the changes, lessons and journeys of life. How boring would it be if all we had was sun and clear skies? Learning to welcome the gray and the cool is for me the welcome evidence of another lesson of acceptance learned.
Some more wonderful lessons were learned or emphasized this year. Appreciation for family. Gratitude for a life of service, the ability to give, inspire, lead and follow. Thankfulness for health, for kids…for grandkids and the simple realization that the sun will rise without the slightest of personal effort…and that joy will be found in each new day.
Not the least of these is the joy of letting go.
“In the end only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” Buddha
This is a wonderful quote that came my way this week reminding me of the beauty of loving and allowing. The virtue of allowing is the literal act of letting go. First in thought with the resulting gift of the actual mental release and then a calmness of spirit that is the affirmation and gift of that release.
As I let go of summer and welcome fall I am reminded of the beauty a life of allowing can deliver. Letting go of the need to be right…resisting the urge to maintain the identity of the counterfeit me…the ego-created personification of fear.
I will meet and embrace the Perry that Rumi speaks of… “Out beyond the ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field…I will meet you there.” I am ready to live a life that matters. To meet and embody the self that is beyond the agony of right and wrong. To explore with wonder the field beyond.
That is what matters.
IN-JOY your journey to this place,
Perry
Dr. Chinn is a 1986 Life University graduate (Marietta), has been practicing for 37 years, currently in NW Montana. He has served as a board member and vice-president of the Gonstead Clinical Studies Society. As a Gonstead technique diplomate, Dr. Chinn is authorized to teach and coach the Gonstead system to other doctors of chiropractic. He is the author of Symphony of Wellness and Soaring Beyond Fear (www.PerryChinn.com), his book Symphony of Wellness (now in an expanded 3rd edition) focuses on the science and benefits of the Nobel Prize winning science of nitric oxide for cardiovascular health and whole body wellness. He is available for keynote speaking and coaching. Dr. Chinn can be reached at DrPChinn@gmail.com