“Life is like a book, 
it is told in chapters, 
and you cannot embrace 
the next chapter until 
you close the current one.” 
Casey Neistat

When I write, I do so one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time. I never begin a new paragraph until the previous one has been written. As I consider what to write next, I always have some idea of where I think it will go, but occasionally the writing takes on a life of its own. I’m often amazed by what I’ve written, because the end product can be quite different than my original plan.

As YouTube personality Casey Neistat tells us in the quote above, life is, indeed, very much like writing a book. One difference, however, is that when writing a story, we can always go back and revise what we’ve written. Life doesn’t usually offer us the same opportunity.

Instead of paragraphs or chapters, life is lived in moments, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, and years. The transition from one month or one season to the next is similar to beginning a new chapter. This can be an exciting time, yet it can also be scary, or even bittersweet. Regardless of how we perceive it, life goes on. What’s done is done.

As we begin the month of September, and soon the season of autumn, we turn the page to the next chapter of our own life stories. It’s important that we do so with a sense of gratitude. Many who turned their page to August are not with us as we transition into September. Many who enjoyed the first days of spring and summer will not have the opportunity to savor the arrival of autumn. Those of us who can do so have much for which to be grateful. 

Like you, I would think, I have some ideas about where I expect or hope September will take me. I have some desires and a few plans for the season of autumn, but I know full well that, just as my writing can take on a life of its own and lead me in a totally different direction, my life has the same potential. Despite this reality, I am embarking on this new chapter with confidence that whatever lies ahead will help me to continue to grow into the person I was meant to be.