Trees in Autum
I have learned that resisting your own burdens leads to suffering. That’s counter intuitive, I know. But the more I fought against the reality of my own pain, the more stuck I got in it. I had heard spiritual authors and guides talk about the importance of accepting our burdens, but I resisted that reality for more years that I care to admit.
But then one day, while filled with heaviness and emptied of joy, I drove to the monastery. I wondered if maybe I could accept my burdens. Would that actually help me move through these experiences instead of getting stuck in a cycle of anger and defeat? I knew my burdens wouldn’t disappear, but could they become lighter somehow in my acceptance of them?
It was late fall in Madison Wisconsin, and the trees had shed their leaves. That’ s when I saw how they accepted the coming cold with strength and beauty. Their brown trunks and branches silhouetted the sky. And their branches’ branches reached upward toward the clouds. Standing side by side, the bare trees lined the road in simple, yet fearless, acceptance of what was.
As I thought about the trees’ acceptance of winter, I began to accept my own personal burdens. I still grieved those burdens, but I stopped fighting against them. And by accepting these burdens, I began to live easier with them and move forward without that same heaviness, slowing me down.
Earlier the next fall, I watched as the trees’ leaves changed color in a vibrant celebration of life. Winter was coming, and all the trees could do was dance in an explosion of yellows, oranges, and reds. The trees were celebrating the end of their season of green growth, leaning into the coming season of cold and ice.
The trees showed me not only how to accept winter but also how to embrace it. Imagine embracing your burdens. It’s possible, and ironically it leads to freedom and even joy.
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