September concludes and ushers in autumn, and it seems it is also ushering in change, and the change that is occurring in my own life is inspired by two distinctly different feelings: one, opportunity that is too hard to ignore and should not be take for granted; and the second, discomfort so long lingering, that to not try and change would be paramount to giving up, and that is just not in my temperament. 

Let's begin with change provoked by the feeling that none of us likely would want to feel, and especially not so on a regular, persistent basis: discomfort. It is when we experience, even for the shortest of moments, what life, daily living, can be without said discomfort, that we realize, we must pursue how to set aside and move forward away from the unwanted feeling. Sometimes we do not know how to do this, but the good news is we know that feeling differently, feeling more at peace, more grounded and more content is possible, and that is the motivation to set out to explore how to welcome the change we desire. (read this post to explore tools for setting out toward something better even if you don’t know exactly how.)

The second mode that prompts change in our lives is to cross paths with opportunity as we are going about our everydays, and because we have been living in self-awareness, have embraced being our true selves and know that opportunities do not present themselves at all times and when they do, they do not sit around and nag us until we wake up and seize its gifts, we take a step toward the opportunity and say yes. We don't always have all of the pieces ironed out, but more are ironed out than not, and we know that because we recognize opportunity such as this, we know we are ready to welcome it into our lives. And from that moment on our lives are forever changed, in ways that make the past a read and closed chapter and tomorrow, while unknown, exciting and full of energy to fully engage and discover what is offered. 

The important truth to keep in mind is that change is constant. A simple, well-known truth, but none-the-less, one we may not want to be true at times. However, when we embrace the change, when we step toward it, we avoid pitfalls, 'migraines', and sometimes devastating pain, of such we will never know because we were proactive and recognized that change was necessary prompted by either one of the two reasons above. We will never know what we did not have to suffer through, but we know that we engaged with our lives because we were awake, present and brave and it will make a wonderful difference in the quality of our lives. 

I will be sharing more details about my own examples of being brave in my own personal life in the coming months. My choices, will seem to some to indeed be just that, brave; and to others, nothing more than an obvious choice, but this is what I want to underscore today, what is significant, weighty and prompts much contemplation need only be validated by you, because when you honor your intuition, you know how important certain decisions are to the life you are living and will or want to be living. Don't let others bully, shame or dismiss your careful consideration. Sometimes making decisions that will prompt change in our lives will take an abundance of time, while others, we will just know, but the key for both instances is to know yourself, and then you will be able to rest confidently in your decision. 

In this month's newsletter, the new season of the blog (its 13th), the podcast (its 9th), and the cooking show (its 5th) kicked off, along with the sharing of the annual Fall Shopping Guide, three Petit Plaisirs of the podcast, the annual reflection and tour of my garden at Le Papillon, a new Monday Motivational post each Monday and yep, jam-packed This & That posts that were shared each Friday, including today on the blog. 

I hope your month went well and the changing of the seasons has been a shift that you are welcoming in celebration and appreciation no matter how large or seemingly small, but no doubt significant. How we travel through our days, the everydays, determines how we feel at the end of each 24-hours, and while some days can and most definitely will be difficult, with headache after headache after headache, one helpful thing I try to employ at the end of such days is to find time to be still before going to bed and look around me, asking and noting all that is going well. From Norman snoring sweetly on the sofa next to me, calm weather outside, a clean house, and simply having the opportunity to have a moment to take such a breath and reflect. While it doesn't 'solve' headaches, it often helps put them in better perspective.

Thank you for choosing to subscribe to the monthly newsletter. Wishing you a most wonderful October, and until Monday October 31st, I will see you on the blog.

—Shannon

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