Changing Seasons

As I sat here and began to write, somehow my focus shifted from one thing to another and it moved me in a direction I hadn't planned. I began thinking about the change in seasons. As the layers of summer begin to fade away and fall emerges, I am reminded of how the earth is constantly working. How it is able to peel back all the levels of the old and the dying and replace it with a fresh coat of life. The earth prepares itself for the upcoming cold and adjusts and shapes itself for months of hibernation. (At least here in New York) The roots buried deep beneath the surface will somehow survive despite being covered in a blanket of white. The trees and flowers will emerge again next year, growing taller and stronger even though they were once thought dead, having succumbed to the change. It was this thought that made me wonder if this strength, this resilience were true for ones' life. Are we, like the earth able to shift our lives, adjust and prepare for the changes that life can bring? Can we truly begin again, peeling back our own layers of the old and dying and replenish our lives, our spirits with something that will sustain us for a lifetime? This is my thought for today...

As I continued to ponder this question, my thoughts were unclear, but the more I thought about it, I knew the answer to my own question, without hesitation. I truly believe that although we may get knocked down from time to time, we inevitably pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and find a way to move on. We have the instinctive ability to be better, to do better and to make decisions that will, hopefully, bring us closer to something more fulfilling and more beautiful than we had thought possible. We have the ability to endure being wounded time after time and yet, even though the sting of heartache remains, we go on. Something in us stays put, feels the hurt and beckons for a new day. We are keenly aware that with each passing day, with each changing season, we will press on, not fully knowing what the new day will bring but still, we hope. We have the knowledge that as each day falls into night; we are one step closer to the path in which we were meant. I believe that we are like the roots buried in the ground. We may hibernate from time to time, hiding ourselves away in our own corner of the world, but in that stillness, in that darkness, we grow in strength and courage. We regenerate and regroup and come out fighting, once again. It is that same determination that keeps the roots alive and nourished. They have patience, for they know that waiting will allow them time to heal, time for rest and a time to gain back what was lost. They stay until they are strong enough to emerge once again. Just like us.