As the days begin to shorten, we are reminded that darkness is as much of life as is light. And each day we have moments of birth and moments of loss. They give an opportunity in the practice of taking some aspects of ourselves and our lives with less importance, of letting go or dying to our fixed sense of self:

Die while you’re alive
and be absolutely dead.
Then do whatever you want:
it’s all good.

Bunan,  17th century Zen Master.

The third noble truth says that the cessation of suffering is letting go of holding on to ourselves. By “cessation” we mean the cessation of hell as opposed to just weather, the cessation of this resistance, this resentment, this feeling of being completely trapped and caught, trying to maintain huge ME at any cost.

Pema Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness