Key reasons why seasons must change – Part 2

What do you do when a life is cut short in its prime and the hope of a family is lost forever?

This is what happened to my family when my beloved mother died in 1996 at only 37 years old. Remember what I told you in the first part of this story? That I have had many winters in my life, and I know from experience that winter can be merciless! That is, if you expose yourself to it without protecting yourself from it.

As I have gotten older, I now realise that “what you focus on expands”. The winters of my life have come in the form of grief, depression, discrimination, sickness, betrayal and loss. But I overcame it all by becoming aware of this very important fact “what you focus on expands”.

By deciding not to focus on the coldness and harshness of winter, I was able to appreciate its coziness. And truth be told, the spotless white snow can be quite beautiful to look at. Despite how cold it can be, you just want to venture outside for a bit with your proper winter gear. The fact is that by deciding not to focus on the harshness of winter, I was able see its beauty and its lessons then I was prepared to welcome summer.

Summer is beautiful, no doubt about it. What I love most about it is the plush green fields, blossoming flowers and fruitful trees. The weather is so nice that you want to stay outside and never go inside. The summers in Canada were aesthetically pleasing and you can feel the joy and excitement in the air.

So many activities are planned during the summer seasons. Schools break for holidays and families are out and about. It is a splendid season.

I welcome the summer season from the lessons of winter and I thrive during summer because I am stronger, wiser and ready to take on the world. Winter provided me with a tool kit to welcome the summer and learn to enjoy it. I must admit that this was not always the case for me.

In the past, the pain of my winter season made me solemn in the summer season and before I knew it, it was another winter. Another anniversary of the grief and loss that made me lose sight of the beauty of summer right around the corner. Now I catch myself and remind myself to focus only on the positive and be grateful for what I do have. To enjoy and learn from every season.

To do this successfully we must learn to:

1. Become adaptive to every season of life knowing that nothing is permanent and things are constantly changing.

2. Become highly self-aware of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and to keep working to improve yourself.

3. Put God first in all you do and realise that you are more resilient than you think and you are more capable than you realise.

4. Enjoy the activities of each season. Learn to ski in the winter and learn to hike in the summer.

5. Practice mindfulness, know that your mind can overcome the matter regardless of how hard it seems at first and regardless of the season that you are in.

6. Remember that every season is a teacher, therefore, allow your experience of each season teach you the right lessons that will improve your mindset, principles and approach to life.

7. Realise that the pain of “winter” can become the “power” that empowers you during your summer season. The dryness in winter can bring about freshness during summer.

8. Know that you attract what you expect, therefore expect only great things and you will experience only great things in winter and summer.

9. Know that the adversities of winter will become the audacity that makes you shine in summer.

10. Realise that that while you cannot control what happens to you in each season of your life, you can always control how you react to it.

I strongly encourage that you embrace the changing seasons in your life because that is what makes life colourful and interesting. Try not to be anxious because seasons are changing. I know it seems that the cycle of sameness is familiar, but quite frankly, it is boring. The changing seasons is what gives your life versatility and variety and that my friend, is something amazing.