It’s that time of year again when the leaves trade in their green skin for brilliant hues of red and orange. The air turns crisp and morning coffee becomes hot. Apple pies bake in the oven as pumpkin spice aroma floods the room. Friends and family gather around bonfires, laughing about their Halloween frights. The world makes a wish and blows the first leaf to gently kiss the ground.

While the wind dances with stories laced with this past years secrets, the leaves gossip of what they’ve learned. Twirling through the air are whispers of things that didn’t go quite as planned. Sometimes life doesn’t grow in the direction you wanted it to, and that’s okay.

The leaves may know you where you have fallen but they are not falling with you. Every year new leaves grow in place of where the old have hung. They have seen where you struggle and it is time to let go. They blow away into the breeze of forgotten dismay. Crunching into the Earth are the mistakes of dead past. The leaves may have blown away but you haven’t. Leaves change, just like you. Their shades are green with envy, then turn to red with past anger and orange for old frights before falling to the ground. They let go of what was and are now ready for what could be. They don’t dwell on their mistakes, they learn from them and grow back stronger to withstand this next year's endeavors.

So bundle up in your favorite over-sized sweater, grab a Venti salted caramel latte and jump in the leaves. You may not know where you are going but they leaves didn’t either. It will work out. In the long run, it's really all about finding what makes you the happiest. If its not what you’re doing this fall, then maybe by this time next year you’ll have a clearer picture. As for now, its time to kick away the trouble of the past and grow a brighter future. Fall is the most beautiful time to let dead things go.