The fall is a season that doesn’t have high levels of popularity in the general population. If we put ourselves in touch with our thoughts, we can understand that coming right after our favorite season -summer- and immediately before winter is a difficult task.
Generally, any seasonal change tests us and requires that we activate all of our adaptive strategies. Nevertheless, experts claim that the process of adaptation for fall demands an extra effort from us. In fact, numerous studies agree that the characteristic traits of autumn, like the decrease in the hours of sunlight, have an impact on our moods and provoke emotional ups and downs. Still, we should take into account that we will adapt differently to the seasons based on where we are in our lives (in terms of our ages, life circumstances, etc.).
Even with autumn’s apparent drawbacks in mind, we need to consider it in a different light so that we can accept it as a season as productive and satisfying as the others.
Increasing our self-awareness
We should be aware that identifying a particular season of the year as the only reason why we’re experiencing some particular emotional state is a highly unrealistic interpretation of what is happening in our inner worlds. During the fall, we tend to notice everything that escaped our attention during the summer when we were enjoying our ample free time. Thus, the days of rain, cold, and earlier darkness come to seem like inevitable sources of gloom. This time period makes us redirect our attention to how we feel.
That’s why the fall gives us the opportunity to connect with ourselves. In this fashion, we can stop to interpret what is really happening, how it is affecting us, and above all, what we can and need to do to deal with it.
More than sadness
Normally, one of the emotions that we most associate with these moments of introspection is sadness. We’ve already discussed sadness many other times on our website; we’ve talked about it is a type of emotional adhesive that can glue our thoughts to situations of loss or discontentment. Yes, autumn arrived, but we can’t let this sadness gush forth in a torrent that stops us from moving forward. What would happen if we tried to interfere with the normal process of nature? Could we succeed in using nets to catch the leaves of every tree so that they don’t fall to the ground? And if so, what would our efforts actually accomplish?
It’s entirely possible that our unnatural intervention would only complicate things more. We would accumulate such a large quantity of leaves in the nets that in the end, the contents would be too heavy, and the leaves would come tumbling to the ground anyway. Don’t you think that the sudden plummet of all of the leaves would be more destructive than if we had just let nature run its normal course? And what if our sadness about the season is like the leaves of the trees? Shouldn’t we accept it and let it make its descent more gracefully?
Readjusting our self-care in autumn
In autumn, like in any seasonal change, our free time needs to undergo some variations, too. Normally, at the end of the summer, we tend to think that we won’t have any more time for ourselves. We internalize the belief that this is the moment when we’ll be submerged again in our daily routine. We think we’ll be forced to go on autopilot. Faced with this reality, we can either focus on everything that we won’t be able to do because of the climate associated with the season, or we can try to focus on the positives that the fall generates.
Generally, if we’re attentive to all of the positives that come with this season of change, we encounter in it pleasurable activities that allow us to cultivate our bodies and minds. Surely, if you value your moments of free time and self-care during the summer, you realize certain things. You will notice that you have stopped engaging in your leisurely activities with as much frequency and that the high temperatures and endless social gatherings have come to an end. For that reason, you have to take control of your free time and decide what you want to do with it, taking into account all of the positives that fall provides.
Don’t resist
Given all of these considerations, at the beginning of fall, we have various options. One of them is anchoring ourselves to our complaints, focusing on not making any chances and yearning in an unproductive way for the glory days of sunshine. Another option is redirecting our thinking from the past to the present and directing our energy toward the current moment. It is important that we accept that our feelings regarding the change of season are natural but that it is still worthwhile to try to move forward.
No obstante, puede que octubre haya dado paso al descubrimiento de problemas personales serios. Si crees que lo que te ocurre es algo más complejo que la repercusión natural de un cambio de estación, tal vez deberías solicitar la ayuda de un profesional. Recuerda que un trabajo psicoterapéutico puede ayudarte a explorar e identificar qué te está ocurriendo. De este modo, puede ayudarte a mejorar tu calidad de vida.
However, it could be that in October, you experienced some serious personal problems. If you believe that what occurred to you is something more complicated than the natural repercussions of the change of season, maybe you could ask for professional help. Remember that psychotherapy can help you to explore and identify what is happening to you. In this fashion, it can help you improve your quality of life.
