The Month Everything Shows Its True Color

My boys,

October has always seemed more honest than the months around it.

September negotiates.

One morning feels like summer.

The next asks for a coat.

The trees begin changing carefully, almost privately, one branch at a time.

October stops pretending.

The green gives way.

The mornings sharpen.

The sun leaves earlier.

The first frost begins considering the fields.

And everywhere you look, things start showing their true color.

I used to think autumn changed the leaves.

That isn't quite right.

Much of what we call autumn color was already there.

The green was simply louder.

As the season changes, the tree stops maintaining what covered those colors, and slowly the yellows, oranges, reds, and browns become visible.

The season does not paint everything new.

It reveals something that was already present.

I think life does that to people too.

When conditions are easy, almost everyone can look green.

Rested.

Patient.

Generous.

Confident.

Faithful.

It is easier to be kind when you are not tired.

Easier to be generous when there is plenty.

Easier to speak about faith when the prayers seem answered.

Easier to be patient when nothing important is taking too long.

Easier to have principles when keeping them costs you nothing.

Then the temperature drops.

Something doesn't work.

Money becomes tight.

Someone disappoints you.

You become tired.

You are overlooked.

A door closes.

The answer is no.

The plan fails.

And suddenly another color appears.

That does not always mean the difficult season made you angry, selfish, impatient, fearful, or dishonest.

Sometimes it simply revealed what comfort had been covering.

I have seen that in myself.

There are versions of me I am proud to introduce to you.

The patient father.

The disciplined man.

The generous friend.

The calm leader.

The man who trusts God.

Then pressure arrives.

And occasionally I meet another version.

Short-tempered.

Controlling.

Distracted.

Impatient.

Wanting everything solved immediately.

Wanting to carry the whole world myself and then becoming irritated that it is heavy.

That man is me too.

I don't like admitting that.

But pretending he isn't there does not make me better.

Seeing him gives me something to work on.

That is one of the gifts of difficult seasons.

They introduce you to yourself.

Not so you can hate what you find.

So you can tend it.

If impatience appears under pressure, work on patience.

If fear appears when money gets tight, examine what you believe provides for you.

If pride appears when someone corrects you, ask why being wrong feels dangerous.

If anger appears when you lose control, ask what you were trying to control that never belonged to you.

If your principles disappear the moment they become expensive, they were preferences.

That is useful information.

October does not apologize to the tree for revealing it.

Neither should we resent the seasons that reveal us.

But there is another side to this.

Pressure reveals beautiful things too.

You find out who stays.

You discover that someone is kinder than you knew.

You watch a person quietly give when they have little themselves.

You see courage in someone who was certain they were afraid.

You discover patience you did not know you had.

You realize your faith has roots deeper than your feelings.

You watch your children respond to disappointment with grace.

You see a friend arrive without being asked.

Hard seasons do not only expose weakness.

They uncover strength.

That matters.

Because sometimes we are afraid of discovering what is underneath.

We assume the hidden thing must be ugly.

Not always.

There may be colors in you that could only appear when the green withdrew.

I want you boys to know yourselves that way.

Not the version of yourselves you advertise.

Not the version people compliment.

Not the version you imagine you will become someday.

Know the man who actually appears when the weather changes.

Watch him carefully.

Do not excuse everything he does.

Do not condemn him either.

Learn him.

Then keep becoming.

God already knows every color in you.

There is no performance necessary there.

The polished parts.

The frightened parts.

The generous parts.

The selfish parts.

The courage.

The doubt.

The things you have repaired.

The things you are still hiding beneath green leaves.

Nothing is revealed to Him in October that He did not see in July.

There is comfort in that.

You can be honest with God because you are not informing Him of anything.

You are finally becoming honest about what He already knows.

Outside, the oak is changing quickly now.

Soon there will be almost no green left.

Then the leaves themselves will fall.

Eventually the branches will stand bare against the sky.

Nothing hidden.

Nothing decorated.

And still the tree will be a tree.

Still rooted.

Still alive.

Still becoming.

Maybe that is where this month begins.

Not with trying to look better.

With seeing more clearly.

October is here.

Let the colors show.

I love you.

— Baba

Question:

When life removes the conditions that make it easy to be your best self, what color actually appears?

Moral:

Changing seasons do not always create what they reveal. Pressure often exposes what comfort allowed us to hide — weakness worth tending, strength worth recognizing, and truth worth bringing honestly before God.

This story reflects real experiences and philosophies behind Backyard Brew. It is shared to inspire perspective and intention.

Author: R. Solace