Big Girl Panties Diaries – Entry #97 When the Season Changes (And You Don’t Get a Vote)

Every year, without fail, the season changes. The days shorten. The mornings start crisp, and evenings ask for a sweater you swore you wouldn’t need yet. It happens on nature’s clock, not ours—and no matter how much we protest, summer always gives way to fall.

That shift can feel jarring. One day we’re soaking up sunshine at 8 p.m., the next we’re driving home in the dark, wondering where the time went. Our bodies know the change before our minds catch up—tired earlier, craving comfort, reaching for warm drinks instead of cold ones.

Here’s the truth: we don’t control the seasons. But we do control how grounded we stay as they turn. Fall invites us to slow down, to notice. To stop sprinting with the long daylight and instead settle into the steadiness of shorter days.

It’s like the pause in yoga—the space between inhale and exhale. That tiny moment that’s easy to miss, but full of power if you stay with it. The season shift is that pause. Summer exhales. Fall inhales. Our job is to notice the breath in between and let it steady us.

How to Stay Grounded When the Seasons Shift

• Breathe with the rhythm. Notice the shorter days like the space between inhale and exhale. Try slowing your breath in the morning or evening—four counts in, hold, four counts out—to remind your body that calm is available.

• Build small rituals. Light a candle at the same time each night. Take a five-minute morning walk, even in the chill. Anchor your body so your mind follows.

• Lean into comfort. Swap iced coffee for something warm, bring out the cozy blankets, or embrace the “hygge” spirit. Comfort doesn’t mean complacency; it’s energy renewal.

• Match your pace to the light. You don’t have to keep up summer speed when the days are shorter. Allow yourself to rest more, reflect more, even say no more.

• Reframe the darkness. Instead of mourning lost daylight, think of longer evenings as space for journaling, reading, or conversations you don’t squeeze in when it’s light until 9 p.m.

The Workplace Parallel

Seasons shift in organizations, too—and not always on our timeline. A leader leaves, a reorg gets announced, a new system goes live. Sometimes those changes are planned and co-created. But often, like the turn from summer to fall, they arrive right on schedule whether we’re ready or not.

We don’t get to vote on the daylight hours at work either. What we do get to decide is how we show up when things shift. Do we burn ourselves out trying to keep the old rhythm going, or do we ground ourselves in new rituals, adapt our pace, and lean into what this season requires?

Finding Joy in the Season

Grounding helps us steady, but joy helps us move forward. Fall offers simple joys that are easy to overlook when we’re busy resisting change. The crunch of leaves underfoot. The golden hour light that softens everything it touches. Apple picking and pumpkin patches on the weekend. The ritual of soup simmering on the stove. Even in the workplace, this season can be a chance to reconnect—coffee chats that feel cozier, team moments that settle in instead of sprinting past.

Joy doesn’t erase the loss of summer; it reminds us that every season carries its own beauty if we’re willing to notice it.

The seasons remind us that letting go isn’t optional—it’s necessary. I wrote about this before in Entry #88: We Keep Saying Change Is Hard—What We Mean Is Letting Go Is, where I unpacked how resistance often masks grief.

Transitions can feel unsettling, but they’re also where awareness grows. Just like in Entry #96: Pause Before You Pounce, that pause between inhale and exhale teaches us that stillness can carry wisdom if we let ourselves sit in it.

Fall also invites margin—the white space between the busy lines of summer. In Entry #64: Creating Margin, I shared how margin isn’t wasted time—it’s the grounding we didn’t know we needed.

And yes, the shorter days and longer nights can feel uncomfortable. But discomfort is often just growth wearing a different outfit. I explored that tension in Entry #91: If Opposites Attract, Maybe Discomfort’s Just Flirting with Growth.

Nature models resilience in plain sight: trees letting go, animals storing up, light and dark balancing again. The world doesn’t resist the turn; it leans into it. Maybe we can, too.

🍂 Big Girl Panties Rule: You don’t get to co-create every change. Some arrive on schedule, ready or not. Your power is in how you steady yourself—and maybe even find joy—when the light shifts.