"Spring Awakenings"

"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come." -  Robert H. Schuller

       It was a gorgeous day today.  The air was crisp and cool.  Spring.  Rebirth.  Hope.  I've been predisposed to thinking very seriously about how important spring is to me.  It seems that no matter what has happened, no matter what I have faced, it is spring that grants me complete and total absolution from all the worries and the anxiety that I have faced or have witnessed.

     There is always hope.  There is always that glimmer of hope.  Everything begins to grow in the spring and for that nature grants us that opportunity as well.  The decline of fall and pain of winter, frozen emotions seem to finally thaw.  This is where the lessons are.  Can we endure winter? Can we find the will to see all of life's troubles through and embrace the blooming of spring?  When we are suffering...and the human condition does not keep us immune...we do not see the spring.  We do not believe that seasons change and the growth that comes from personal suffering, makes us wiser, stronger and hopefully more empathetic. If we can allow the empathy, we can face the winter.

     Every year, the seasons mean something different for me but no season gives me the renewed vision like spring.  We all come out of hiding.  There is no more fear of frost.  The cold has dissipated.  We begin to move differently.  We see hear the sounds of nature's awakening.  Suddenly, we begin to think differently.  Maybe we become more honest with our loved ones.  Maybe we forgive those who have caused us pain. Or if we can not forgive, perhaps we can see the truth and move beyond the darkness of our past pain.  Hopefully, we find the humor out of the seriousness that often looms within humanity.  Perhaps we can find joy in our youth, embrace them and teach them and give them the time they deserve.     

     Spring means healing.  Spring means putting aside our egos and our pride and accepting what is.  We cannot change anything or anyone other than ourselves and herein lies the most important lesson of spring.  The world does not revolve around us.   We revolve around the world.  It is up to us to leave it in a better place.  Our time here is short.  It spins past like a "New York minute."  In the darkest times of winter, think of the ecstasy and the warmth of spring.  With each spring, we can become wiser, less judgmental and capable of more love if we allow ourselves to do so.  For those who won't or can't, love them regardless.  Love is what spring is all about.  So take your antihistamine.  Grab that box of tissues, blow your nose.  Ignore the pollen count.  Love spring.  Love each other.  Love yourself.  The past can not be corrected.  It simply happened.  Be the better person in spite of the past.  Spring has sprung!

 

 

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