Raking the Leaves of Our Lives

Today my mother asked me to help her rake the leaves in my grandparents' yard. I happily agreed and met her over there early this morning. My grandfather greeted me when I arrived and gave me a rake to begin clearing the leaf-covered yard. Yet it seemed as though every time I raked a section clean of leaves, a gust of wind would blow them right back where they came from. The whole pile never blew back completely, thankfully, but many leaves would re-cover the grass I had just worked so hard to reveal. On top if this, the gusting wind would also put newly fallen leaves in flight which all seemed to have a direct path towards where I was working. As frustrating as this may sound, I wasn't upset or angry. I joyfully started raking again and again, and although the lawn never stayed truly leaf-free, it sure as hell wasn't as bad as when we had first started. I knew tomorrow the whole yard would be covered again, as there were still leaves-a-plenty in the ash and sycamore trees in the neighbors yard, yet it didn't matter. I joyfully raked away, momentarily clearing the leaves, placing them in little piles. At one point, an insight struck me like a bolt of lightening, saying this was our job as humans - to joyfully rake the leaves of our lives, knowing fully they will continuously be blown around time and time again. Sure, we may temporarily get a few nice piles, exposing the grass and dirt hiding underneath, yet there will always be a few loose leaves blowing around, and at one point the lawn will be covered completely all over again; it may even be as soon as tomorrow, as I'm sure it will be with my grandparents' house. But I say to you, rake the leaves of your life with joy and don't worry if the pile gets blown away, or if more leaves come falling down. Just keep raking, joyfully, each and every day.