Are You Seasonally Adjusted?
Mar 3rd, 2009 by Angela
We hear much talk around us of ‘seasons of life’ and it is a concept that we use in our coaching sometimes too. The idea centres around the four seasons of Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. For instance, Summer might be seen as a season of reaping, of sunshine and of plenty. Winter might be viewed in terms of cold, withdrawal, little or no growth, emptiness, hardship, loss, greyness, rain and storms.
In thinking about this idea for a bit, I came to the conclusion that it is easy for us to think that we are in a particular ‘season’ on the basis of one area of our lives. For example, do you (along with many others) think that you are in winter at the moment because you have lost financial resources as a result of the economic downturn, or because you have lost your job and are unable to find a new one?
Even if this were the case, are you really in ‘winter’? What about other life areas. Are your family relationships going well? Is your health good? Are you fit? Are you investing in your spiritual life and gaining benefit from that? Are you intellectually stimulated?
How tempting it is for us to see only the one ‘black’ spot on an otherwise ‘white’ page. What does that do to our morale and sense of well-being? Probably not much! If we apply the ‘attitude of gratitude’ to our lives, what do we see? How does it make a difference to look at life through that lens?
I was reading about a middle-aged doctor and professor who had a disease that progressively paralysed his limbs and muscles. Eventually even speech became impossible because his body could no longer obey any commands. Even though his brilliant career seemed over and all seemed lost, he refused to give in to ‘winter’ in his life and maintained his spirit despite his dire circumstances.
Fortunately, through a fellow sufferer, he found out about a computer that could be operated by someone as long as they had the use of a single muscle group. The only thing this man still had was the use of his eyebrow! With this, he turned his ‘winter’ into ‘spring’, and for the next few years was able to communicate via computer with family and students. He could write and review papers and even wrote an award winning book!
Thankfully not all of us are called to demonstrate that strength of spirit, but perhaps the idea of saying to ourselves ‘OK, I can no longer do… but I can still do…’ is worth thinking about. Perhaps we can ask, ‘What can I do to make the best of this situation for myself and for others? What resources do I have that I can call on?’ Then we start seeing the white sheet of paper rather than the black spot on it.
I remember a real ‘winter’ time in my life. The black spot was dominating the whole page! Someone sent me a quote which I kept and looked at often during that time. It said, “Sometimes we look so longingly at the door that has closed behind us, that we do not see the one that is opening in front of us.” It took time, but eventually I was ready to turn around from that closed door and could see the door in front of me opening. I also realised that no ‘season’ is forever and it isimportant to move on.
What about you? What season are you in? What are you hanging on to that is no longer serving you well? Are you looking longingly at that ‘closed’ door, or are you looking at the one in front of you that is opening wider with possibilities as you step out in faith?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.