I Feel The Love

"I had a dream so big and loud"

                             -American Authors

"I don't like time 

Time is making me old

But I'm doing alright

Cause I will still be young tomorrow"

                             -The Mowgli's 

A few weeks ago I went running on the trail. It was an Autumn day of the most perfect variety. Everything was good. My breathing settled in, my mind wandered... You know, that kind of run. 

And I found myself thinking about a conversation I had with a coworker a few months back. He was asking me what it was about running that made people so addicted to it. And I said because when it's good, it's really good. When you are doing it right, you let your body do its work and your mind is free to unravel problems you didn't think you could resolve or didn't even know you had. And he said I can't ever let my body just do its work, I'm too focused on how miserable I am for my mind to be free to focus on anything else. And I said that means you are going too fast. You need to slow down. 

And as I was remembering this conversation, I slowed down. I noticed the sky, the bunnies, the leaves that were all golden bursts of color on the trees. And heard that clear sweet voice in my head that just said "keep running."  

And I thought about the year I've had. Not an easy one. I turned 40 and I didn't take it particularly well. I spent time thinking a lot about things I missed, things I should have done, things I should have maybe delayed longer than I did. Lots of looking back, and lots of feeling angry and regretful. 

And I was reflecting on all this as I was running and all I kept hearing was "just keep running." 

It was a good run. And as I was on my way back, I was perhaps a quarter mile away from finishing, I came upon this, lying on the ground, face up:

Well, I found the one there on the left, the seven of spades. Now, if you don't know, I read tarot cards. Mostly for fun. And the seven of spades in the tarot deck is the seven of swords, that card there on the right. 

And I realized that I had seen several other cards face down a few yards back, but hadn't recognized them for what they were. I went back and picked them up. As I kept on, finishing my run, I found ten cards. Ten is a significant number in the tarot, it being the exact number of cards in the most common spread, the Celtic cross.  

So I went home and laid it all out and I won't go into any great detail here, but I will say this: the final card, often called the "outcome" was

That is the knight (jack) of cups (hearts). 

Autumn is a time of great power. Summer's green beauty is fading, but even as the leaves turn and fall and the earth prepares for the small death of Winter, this is also the time of great harvests. 

There are lessons to be learned, things worth fighting for and great adventures to be had. And in the powerful and magical season of Autumn, every single thing that has happened in the past, every decision made, every road traveled and not traveled, has happened for a reason and can now be harvested in the form of wisdom gained, strength tested and confidence in your own victory. So you enter Autumn stronger, ready for those next great adventures.  

The Autumn of my life is beginning, and good things are waiting. All I have to do is keep running towards them.