By Victoria Loveland-Coen, Embracing My Journey Guest Blogger
One chilly morning last November, I went for a run in the woods close to where we live in North Carolina with my dog. It was unusually cold and most of the trees had already shed their leaves. I was deep in thought about my life and all the things that weren’t going well…all the opportunities that appeared to have passed me by and how unfair it all seemed. I was running tired and kept stumbling over stones and tree roots, and just considered turning back, when my dog (on leash) stopped and sniffed at something for what seemed like an eternity. Irritated at the idea of being forced to stop, I grumbled something, and then suddenly…I looked up and noticed it. The sun had broken through the clouds and appeared to be shining directly on one tree in a grassy patch. This tree still had its leaves which had turned golden, and in the direct sunlight it positively glowed. I stood there in amazement. “What beauty! What a gift this is!”
