One Leaf at a Time

Sitting quietly this early morning outside under the Fall trees, it occurred to me just how incredibly beautiful life truly is.  With hardly a breeze in the air, I marveled, as a single leaf would slowly drift from its branch, giving up its final show in selfless love before gently touching the ground.  An occasional light wind would prompt several leaves to make the journey from their perch above to join the growing pile on the ground around me.  Holding a single leaf in my hand, I wondered and meditated on the life this single leaf had lived before giving itself up to the inevitable rhythm of the seasons.  Oh how our lives are like this!

I wonder at the end of my own journey will I be ready to gracefully fall from the tree of life and offer myself to those that follow as my own leaf falls to the ground to rot and my body becomes nourishment for others.  Will I have joyfully stretched my face to the sun and soaked up its warmth reflecting it back to others?  Will my life had absorbed the rains and served to deliver refreshment to the tree of humanity as selflessly as this leaf had for its parent?  How would I have endured the summer gales – would I have been strong enough to hold fast and steady or did I snap loose only to die too soon?  And at the end of my life, will I deliver such a spectacular show of color allowing others to reflect on the fruits of my life with great thanks and joy like the joy I have for this single leaf now in my hand?

Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more by visiting www.connect2action.com.