Almost everyone loves fall. College football every Saturday (how 'bout those Aggies!), everything pumpkin, beautiful colors, cardigans and fall clothes you haven’t seen all summer, and just the joy of the approaching holidays. I am not going to break out the Christmas decorations yet, but I will be eating pumpkin pie and I will be decorating my house in fall-color orange (my daughter attends the University of Texas) and maroon (how 'bout those Aggies!).

This season is the only one that has three names: Autumn, fall and harvest. Harvest reflects the time of year when farmers would gather their crops and prepare them for winter storage. Thankfully, we don’t really have to do this much anymore although “harvest” still happens and some of us prepare for winter by canning tomatoes from the garden and making that apple butter to last us through winter.

With more and more people moving to the cities, the term "harvest" fell by the wayside and "autumn" — which means “the passing of the year” — took over. The term “fall” was traced back to an old English deviation which probably referred to the leaves “falling” from the trees.

Whatever we choose to call this season, it is a time of change. That change is represented in beauty of the fall leaves, and by baskets of fruits such as apples and grapes which reflect the abundance and prosperity of the harvest season. Pumpkins, the in-between season fruit, are in abundance and symbolize transition to winter, where they provide a nutritious food rich in vitamins needed for the upcoming season.

Autumn is the time of change, the transition from summer to winter. I never know what to think of this change — it is beautiful but I am reluctant to accept it, as I know winter is approaching. But maybe that’s the purpose for Autumn, to help us embrace and prepare for a change that is inevitable.

During the summer, I am always in search of the next adventure: biking, hiking, paddle boarding. In autumn, however, I always slow down and go back to my roots, reconnect with my family, friends and loved ones.

Autumn is a time for reconnection. This reconnection is what I think we all need right now. We are in a time of significant change in our industry, our health, and our federal and local administrations. I don’t know about y’all, but there are days my anxiety and concern about where we are headed is real. Maybe this season is our time to think about slowing down and reconnecting. It is the change we need to refocus and bring more peace into our lives. Workdays are stressful, more than ever before. It is time to step back, reconnect and eat some pumpkin pie covered in whipped cream. It is time to reconnect and sit around the dinner table and laugh and love with friends and family.

Change is inevitable, and I am sometimes reluctant to change. But how we handle this change determines whether we will enjoy it or not. We may not able to change all the crazy stuff going on right now (I don’t think we have that super-power), but we can change the mindset, embrace the chance for change, reconnect and enjoy what we have. Maybe this Autumn season is a lesson for us to not be so reluctant to change and embrace the reconnection and enjoy time with our family and friends.

The next time you are reluctant to change, think about autumn.

When you are reluctant to change, think about autumn

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