Words seem inadequate to describe the beauty and abundance that surrounds us during the month of October in New England. It's as if Mother Nature has taken her paintbrush and with broad strokes has set the landscape ablaze in color.

There are only a few weeks when the maple trees are at their peaks of color. We soak this glorious time in, basking in the beauty around us. We stop to lie down in piles of just raked leaves and breathe in the musky smells of earth. Briefly we are absorbed into the landscape. Our problems seem like small dramas in the grand scheme of things.

Like the majestic maples ablaze with color, we all have the innate ability to turn up the heat, live lives on fire and show our true colors. Each of us carries the fire within us. Our bodies create energy by burning the food we eat into calories that fuel our cells which sustains ourlife. We must burn to live.

Unfortunately, many of the messages we've been given about fire are negative. Instead of living our lives on fire, our passion for life gets doused with fear. We turn our backs to the fire. We don't tend our own fire or we are too busy tending the fires of others. Our passion for life thenbecomes a pile of smoldering embers that is eventually snuffed out.

To create a life on fire, you must kindle it with your focused attention. Begin by noticing the experiences in your life that fuel you and give you energy. Who in your life fills you with Joy? What captures your attention?

Remember, every fire needs oxygen and energy.

Breathe deeply. Feed your life fire with the highest sources of energy... love and compassion.

Only when your life becomes a torch can you light the way for others.

Nancy Bishop is a Mid-Life Coach and writer who inspires women at midlife to live on fire by rekindling their appetites for life and fueling their creative dreams. Visit her website at http://www.yourlifeyourway.com and sign up for her free monthly inspirational newsletter.