My daily run to the beach here in Birch Bay, Washington takes me down a series of steep stairs that are lined on either side by scads of blackberry bushes. I wait each year for the sun to will them into ripeness, anticipating that sweet burst of flavor long before they even reach my taste buds.

Sometimes I spot one that looks just ready for picking but when I reach to take it from the vine, it resists. I know inside that this means wait. It’s not ready. There are days when I listen and let it be, allowing it to come into it’s juicy perfection. And other days when I think, but it LOOKS ripe. Go ahead and pick it. And as soon as it gets plopped into my mouth I know why it resisted. Sour!!

This becomes a daily practice until the days again grow shorter and the rains return. We are, though, still blessed with many a glorious Autumn day featuring skies as blue as Paul Newman’s eyes, sunlight glistening on the water, and trees a riot of orange, reds and golds…but no more berries. For now.

I had, though, embraced the lessons offered by the blackberry bushes long before the season was winding down. How often in life do we jump a little too soon? We are soooo ready to experience something that we KNOW will be grand and thus give in to the impatience to have it NOW. This minute. And then, despite a bit of a struggle, we forge forward ignoring the signs that just maybe we are a bit premature. Sometimes it still works out. But I believe that most of the time we find that waiting until that opportune moment, when readiness and heart-felt knowing merge, will prove to deliver the utmost satisfaction.

Ahhh… the lessons that nature teaches when we listen. Wishing you a beautifully auspicious flow in the land of decision-making as we enter this harvest time of year. Cheers to sweet unfoldings.

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