A TIME OF CHANGE IN EVERY SEASON

There is a time for every season and for every season there is time for us to stop and reflect – to cherish the good memories of our past seasons as we look forward to creating new memories within those times yet to come.  Spring ushers hope into the world – prying life from the icy fingers of winter.  Summer is a time to bask in the warmth and to grow – to reach deeply into the ground so we might be able to find nourishment within our foundation as we gain strength to weather coming storms.  Fall is a time of respite – of preparing for the long cold season ahead as we hold onto and bask in the warmth and less hectic times left behind.  Winter shrouds us under a cold white blanket – curtailing our growth as we seek shelter from the biting winds and blowing snow – providing a different kind of beauty (and restriction of our normal activities) that inevitably extends just beyond what most of us seem able to handle.

Harry Chapin sang of life being a circle.  He noted that the sun chases the moon from the sky during the daytime while, at night, the moon keeps us company until the daybreak rolls around.  We experience new beginnings each day as we move within the circle of life – with false starts and dead ends being either bumps in our road or terrible “ends” to our progress…potential smooth sailing moving forward until storms might inexplicably force us into retreat.  We can celebrate the opportunities that lie ahead of us as we walk through life’s concentric circles or we can suffer the pain that comes from holding on too tightly to good times that have passed, preventing us from feeling or experiencing that which has yet to be revealed – the path we take determining the opportunities we may be presented within a world of never-ending beginnings.  We can stand tall against the storms that pass through our lives OR we can seek shelter within the perceived safety of another’s shadow while confronting (or avoiding) turmoil, tragedy and truth.  Life rarely allows us to hide in the dark corners of its truly circular reality where nothing is impossible (other than that corners do not really exist).  All things are truly possible if we seek and accept the POTENTIAL for change (that might be different than what we hope for) rather than relying upon the EXPECTATION of change (the way we wish it to unfold) as we travel through the circle of life.

Embrace the opportunity to immerse yourself within whatever season you find yourself celebrating.  It may be a season of joy or of sorrow – of celebration or of mourning…of growth or of reflection – but never accept “what is” as all that could ever be.  Reach towards the heavens as you plant your feet firmly upon the ground, undeterred by temporary inconvenience nor derailed by unexpected concerns.  Every day that we live and breathe is truly a unique (and circular) opportunity having no clear-cut beginning and no definitive end – the chance to move forward towards new and unimagined possibilities as we move from the limitations of our known realities into the unknown potential awaiting us. Take the time to prepare for a long winter of reflection after passing through the autumn of rest – knowing that (EVENTUALLY) time and space will return you to a season of renewal and regeneration while passing through the circle of life.  Look forward to that which has yet to be fully defined rather than holding on to what has already been realized, moving relentlessly ahead to escape a stagnant sanctuary within the non-existent dark corners of a circular world.