A Season Of Change

This might be the social worker in me, but over the past couple of weeks I have observed that as the seasons change - so do people's behaviors. I work at a community mental health center so I see it all. At our agency, the waiting room has gone from a few - to a full house. At the school's, the kiddos have begun to act up and get into more trouble. At the hospital's, there are more people getting sick and hospitalized. And in my classes... procrastination has finally sunk in.

I spent last night in Lawrence with my mom and younger sister. We spent an hour and a half at Dunn Bros Coffee talking about this. What I discovered is just this: the season change makes you change. You might change unwillingly by getting sick or unconsciously isolating yourself in the evenings because the sun goes down earlier, or you might make a change willingly.

For me, I discovered that the season change has made me want to better myself. It makes me want to take advantage of this time we have and just do more. I think that this could have been caused by a combination of things - a recent death in my family, knowing that this is my "last" fall in Eastern Kansas, or because fall is my favorite season (but for the sake of this post - we will blame it on the season change). What I found out though, is that there is so much that I want to do, but I tend to make excuses in order to put them off.

Like many of you, I too, have a busy schedule. I work (unpaid, might I add) at an internship, go to school full time, try to take on the duties of being a new wife, juggle schedules to try to hang out with my friends, take care of my dog, and squeeze in sister time as much as possible. Needless to say, I have become the queen of saying "Oh, I will do this later". In reality though, what if there isn't a later? I think that life is too short to put things off until another time.

So as my mom and I drove back home in the dark last night, we made a "fall bucket list" on the back of a Kohl's receipt. It is nothing extraordinary, but it consists of things that I have wanted to do for a long time. Things in which I always say I will do next year when I am not quite as busy.  Things in which next year rolls around and it is just as busy - so they are postponed until the next year. Here it is:

• Run a 5K
• Go to a pumpkin patch
• Buy tickets for the Trans Siberian Orchestra's "The Lost Christmas Eve" 
• Spend a Saturday at a winery
• Make a blog

So, let the season change spark something in you. Grow, learn, and keep living each day; but while you do it, take time for things in your life that you want to do. Live for the moment, rather than the next moment. Take advantage of every opportunity that is thrown your way. Make a bucket list, do something you haven't ever done before, and change for the better.

Thanks for reading,
Ashley