The Falling Leaf

It was about 3 miles into our 20 mile bike ride today along the Great Allegheny Passage, that I thought of a single falling  leaf. We were riding on the crushed gravel and limestone path where the coal trains ran, part of history that not many get to see outside of text books.  We were taking turns taking the lead and our 13 year old songster behind me said rather randomly "catch a falling leaf". I'm not sure why those words in particular stuck with me, but I looked up and within seconds saw a brown leaf taking it's final, side to side free fall to the ground. It felt almost as magical as seeing a shooting star, until only with an intentional gaze I saw several more fall.

Then, I tried to catch one, and I became fixated. My hands left the bars once to reach up, only to be outside of reach. The leaf now felt elusive, instead of common. And then to add 'insult to injury', one floated down right onto my face. Out of instinct (mastered from the bugs that had a magnetic attraction to my eyeball), I closed my eyes to avoid real injury, and only after opening them did I realize I lost my opportunity to indeed " catch the falling leaf".

And while this mental challenge was happening for a few miles of our ride, no one around me had any clue. My fixation had also taken my attention away from other things right around me. I almost missed seeing a young deer bound away that had been sleeping right beside the trail. And if you know me, I love seeing deer.

As life is all a lesson, I spent the rest of the ride (between coaxing my burning quads to cooperate with me) on reflecting what this lesson was today. I could take this story in many directions, and I hope you apply the falling leaf to your own to bring meaning that's relevant for you (and of course I'd love to hear about it).

For me, it's a personal reminder to stay present with those I am with. The young deer bounding away reminded me of our 18yr old who is contemplating joining the armed forces after graduation. In too short a time, no matter what his post high school career choice, he'll be bounding jovially off to explore his own world.

Professionally, it's a reminder not to get fixated on those magical moments that happen infrequently, but to find the magic in the everyday. The few falling leaves took my attention away from the beauty of the rest of nature all around me. I could easily allow a few brown leaves side track my attention from other things that require it.

Happy labor day weekend everyone,
Thanks for reading ~

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