“99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer. Take one down & pass it around. 98 bottles of beer on the wall.”

99 days left. Wow. I don’t know about you but there’ve been times when I felt like this year had really gotten away from me. Or RUN over me. It’s been eventful – not necessary the events I *wanted* but prayerfully, they were the events I *needed*.

Life does what it does, the days keep moving and if we are wise, we will fit the most delicious parts of our lives into all the nooks and crannies, filling them with beautiful memories.

Not long after college, a friend bought a motorcycle. For a while, I wouldn’t ride with him, no matter how much he asked. Finally, one Fall day I said okay. We zipped down some of the prettiest back-roads in the area with the trees dressed in their holiday colors – gold, orange, brown, red, with traces of yellow. For a while, I sat on the back of that motorcycle stiff as a board, scared…you would have thought I’d never hugged him before in my life. We stopped to get something to drink and that’s when my cycling lesson began. He told me that, if I wanted to stay on the back of the bike, I had to be flexible – hold on but not with a death grip. Told me I had lean when he did, when the road curved. I had to get down into the curve otherwise I might end up hurt…and so could he. That’s life. You have to learn to work the curves otherwise, you’ll get thrown for sure. (I know if he stumbles across this post, he is going to laugh so hard because Bayyyybeeeee, we had many *discussions* about that bike. Whew!)

Did you come into 2007 with goals that you wanted to achieve? I did. So, how are YOU doing? I’ll admit – I got sidetracked. And I misread the “detour sign” – for a long time, I treated it like a “stop sign”. Life hit a curve followed by a major pothole and I didn’t lean into it. I got thrown. I took time to lick my wounds. Found myself hesitant to get back on that “bike”. But, sometimes you don’t have the luxury of getting there in a different way. So you have to grab your courage, toss it over your shoulder and dig in.

Seasons change. Here we are, on the edge of Fall. Actually, today is the first day of Fall and I’ve decided to simply dig in, to till the soil of my life, plant what works for this season, harvest what’s ripe, and plan for next year’s harvest. Today is about recommitting to life – falling madly, truly, deeply in love with the life I’m living. Committing to it daily. Curves and all.

Seasons change. In the process, there’s shedding, pruning, planting, growth, harvest. A chance to reconnect with the dreams I thought were dormant. Perhaps what was dormant is ‘me. *sigh*

FALL is the perfect time to fall in love with life again. To survey the landscape of my life, see what yielded the best results, where I need to adjust my efforts.

Seasons change. Not every season yields a harvest. Sometimes it’s about tilling the soil, preparing it. Sometimes it’s planting season. Sometimes it’s harvest time. And no matter how much I might want it to, the seasons will not be rushed. I’m learning to enjoy those moments, to make the most of each one.

Yes, seasons change. It makes no sense to struggle against them.

Seasons change.

I can’t let that throw me. It’s life. Just as my friend told me that Fall day years ago, I tell myself now: go with it; stop fighting against the curves. Lean into them. Ride it out.

What are you willing to FALL into?

Live DELICIOUSLY!