Changes In the Seasons of Life

"The leaves are changing color and beginning to fall..." I was stating the obvious to my daughter on the way to school this morning.
I am always pleasantly surprised when the seasons change; pleasantly because I enjoy the personality of each season, and surprised because the change always seems to happen sooner than I think it will and is over before I know it!
Most people like the change of the seasons, except where the winters are long and brutal, which I can truly understand! There is a predictable rhythm from Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter, so I guess one could say, that "the changing of the seasons never changes," and that somehow makes it change that we can live with.
But changes in life are not always as welcome. People like things to remain "the way they are", sometimes, even when "the way they are" is not ideal. The reason is fear of the unknown, i.e., Do I have what it takes to live with the change? And, if I don't think I do, then I want things to remain as they are, because right now, I'm managing very well, thank you.
So, we try to resist change. We campaign against it. We deny it and ignore it; but the fact is, change did or is or will happen and we won't grow or mature if we don't learn how to accept and adapt to it.
Some change happens to us - promotion or loss of a job, illness or the death of a loved one, policy changes at work, at church, or civic group, weather disasters, financial loss due to the stock market failure. These kinds of changes are outside of our ability to control. They happen and we have to deal with them.
Some change is our responsibility and choice - taking a course or continuing education classes so I can be on the cutting edge at my job or become eligible for a better job; taking the initiative to exercise and eat better so I can improve my health and sense of well being; becoming more organized for progress and profit in my fields of interest. We can choose to make these kinds of changes, yet, though they are for our personal good, we often elect to ignore them because we think its too difficult, too much work or too uncomfortable.
We can kick and scream, protest until we're blue in the face, but change will come. We can ignore the opportunities to change and remain stuck in our place in life and in our attitudes. Or, we can accept the fact that change in life is as inevitable as changes in the seasons and grab a warm coat and a cup of something hot so we can get through the change as best as we can.
(photos taken from my yard today)