Over the weekend, Sheila and I went through one of our classic fall rituals.

The turning of the closet.

This is where I help her move her summer clothes up to the upper racks of her closet while moving the winter clothes down to street level.

As for me, I take my sweaters out of the cedar lined chest and move my shorts and t-shirts into their new home where they will hibernate for 6 months.

It is a ritual we’ve been doing for 40 years.

The seasonal change is all around us. The leaves are beginning to turn and the cool air and mist coming off the Allegheny River every morning reminds me that we are entering the days of short sunlight and long nights.

It’s a credit to or punishment of our advanced culture that many folks do not stop and appreciate the changes all about us as the cadence of our work and family lives push us to just keep going and disregard much of what is around us.

From a resilience point of view, however, it is good to slow down and recognize the changes, even if it is just for a few minutes every day. No matter how much we “power through” our days, we can’t avoid the biological mandate to prepare for the seasonal changes that are around us.

Give yourself the gift of cleaning out your closets, preparing your flower beds for winter, or getting your bird feeders up and going so your little furry neighbors come and visit you this winter.

Your challenge this week: Build in time during your busy schedule to notice the changes around you. Take a deep breath and connect to your bigger and more beautiful world.

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