Autumn has the most vivid reminders that letting go can be beautiful.

All I have to do is look at my backyard.

I see that the red maple in the foreground has let go almost completely. And I know the dogwoods and sassafras and other trees and weeds and vines will all let go very soon.

So why do I hang on so tightly?

I think it’s because I’m not nearly as trusting. I mistakenly think that I am in control.

Or I TRY to be in control.

How silly!

None of us is in control.

The trees know this. So do the vines and weeds. So do the animals that migrate right on time each year. So do the ones who stay put. They all trust.

They know that they can trust their instincts — that guidance comes when and where it’s needed.

But not me!

I think and ponder and worry and think and ponder and worry some more.

When honestly all I have to do is let go!

All I have to do is trust, just as autumn trees do.

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Just as streams know where to flow.

Just as the sun knows when to set.

Just as the moon and Venus know when to rise.

But I have to learn let go of the thinking and pondering and worrying.

Yes, I am a part of the whole just as all of these other parts of nature are. I can trust and follow the patterns just as they do.

That’s not so easy for me, though, with all of my thinking and pondering and worrying.

But opportunities come up EVERY DAY to help me with that!

I have a deep knowing, an intuition, that I can trust. So I can choose EVERY DAY to let go a tiny bit more.

After all, I have vivid, powerful, beautiful examples in nature.

They all say, “Letting go can be beautiful!”