The Art of Blowing Leaves

Leaf Lessons from a Life Coach

Lesson 1: When blowing leaves, pay close attention to the direction of the airflow. Leaves will fly when forced air is aimed at them, and one must focus the energy of the air to blow the leaves in the desired direction. 

Energy expended without clear direction is exciting, but doesn’t necessarily yield the result you may want. At the end of the day, you may feel exhausted at the amount of work you’ve done without making significant progress toward your goal.

Lesson 2: One must not underestimate the time it takes to properly blow leaves. When rushed, the process may become arduous and frustrating. Take the time to fully unravel cords, remove tripping hazards, and ensure that all equipment is working before beginning the process.

Give yourself the proper time and space to fully empower what you’re working on. Treat your goals with reverence rather than squeezing them into the margins of life. 

Lesson 3: One should wait until the leaves are dry and ready to be moved. Blowing wet leaves is troublesome, messy, and slippery. 

Consider when you move forward. Are you working on your schedule or someone else’s? 

Lesson 4: Embrace progress over perfection. Leaves will continue to fall. If perfection is the goal, this will be an impossible task. 

Look at the progress made each day. Consider that you are that much closer to your goal than you were before. Know that there is more to do and practice feeling satisfied with what you moved forward today.

Lesson 5: Prioritize what you can and leave the rest. Leaves provide nutrients to the soil and are part of a natural process. 

Stay aligned with your commitments and allow the rest to wait. Practice noticing the “positive consequences” of not getting to everything on your list.

Lesson 6: Blow with the wind whenever possible, and remember that your leaf blower has a directed, powerful airflow. 

Embrace your unique brilliance and allow your resources and skills to support you in moving forward. There’s no additional prize for accomplishing a task “the hard way.”

Lesson 7: If the leaf blower is out of commission, use a rake. 

Remember that you have more than one tool in your belt. Continue to assess which is best for the task at hand.

Lesson 8: Notice the beauty of the season and the solace in the leaves. 

We tend to ignore the beauty of where we are when we’re striving for something more. In a few months, the trees will be bare and winter will set in. Right now, nautre is vibrant, the temperature is cool, and the leaves are dancing in the wind. Allow yourself to enjoy what is.