Seasons of the Soul

Spring and Emergence

In spring we are faced with beginning again, and in the process, seeds we plant are fraught with possibility and fragility. Have you ever noticed that spring flowers are the most extraordinary shades…the youth of color? In early spring, pale colors burst forth with fresh intensity and as spring moves to its midpoint and later its nadir, colors are deeper and more enduring. One of the things I note about spring is the hope and warning implied, for in our enthusiasm to begin again, to recycle, we may be brash or hasty, and in spring, the bloom is tentative.

Farmers never count the potential harvest as they watch the fruit trees budding in spring, for weather is unpredictable now and a harsh wind can come at any moment to blow the buds away. So too, for us, spring is filled with possibilities, but they are tentative and will take time for refinement and corrective action that the unfolding months provide. This is a season in which we must cultivate with care, for out of the many ideas, opportunities or desires, only a few will find root and come to fruition later.

Spring is a season in which festivals of fertility take place…to insure the birth, the harvest, the fruitful union. It is in spring that many cultures celebrate sacrifice and resurrection, and although death is part of that process, the focus is on birth and rebirth.

So this is a season in which to move forward with caution…to allow our eagerness to emerge and our optimism to be refueled. The long nights are over and we are moving toward the fullness of our plans for the year. In spring we set the intention.   We begin the process and test the validity of our ideas, calibrating as we go. Like the farmer, we do not count what our harvest will be, because we don’t have all the information as of yet. We are the potential and must weather the unexpected storms that may come to challenge the bloom of possibilities, but in the process, we know the promise of "good" weather and our good outcomes are yet to come!

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Spring 1996

On Serving Instead of Selling

This is a very insightful article about the purpose of business, and a good reminder to all of us when we have something to "sell". 

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=200

Food For Thought

*One does not make friends.  One recognizes them.

*Leadership Principle:  Organize, Deputize.  And supervise.

*Horse sense is what keeps horses from betting on what people will do.

*Even on the springboard to success, you have to bounce a little.

*The best that great teachers can do for us is to help us to discover what is already present in ourselves.

*Comfort comes as a guest, lingers to become a host, and stays to enslave us.

*Clarity is not a thought process but a way of life.

*When you fall in a river, you're no longer a fisherman; you're a swimmer.

*There is only one degree of difference between hot water and steam.

*How exciting are your dreams?  Most people don't aim too high & miss - they aim too low & hit !

*Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.  Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.

*The world belongs to the enthusiastic, and people will follow them anywhere.

*If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.

*Accepting life's gifts is simple and effortless when we stop dictating the terms and conditions for delivery.

*Don't think of it as failure.  Think of it as time-released success.

*Love is the final end of the world's history, the Amen of the universe.

~Author Unknown

A Gift of Caring

An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in the heart of winter, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the sidewalk, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.
A lady approached the young boy and said, "My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!"
"I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," was the boy's reply.
The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.
She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.
She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "No doubt, you will be more comfortable now."
As she turned to go, the astonished child caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her,
 "Are you God's wife?"    

~Author Unknown         

Trust in the Slow Work of God

 We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

   We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new, and yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by  passing through some stages of instability – and that may take a very long time.

   Your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to "force" them on, as though you could be today  what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make them tomorrow.

   Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that the Divine hand is leading you through the obscurity and the "becoming," and accept, for love of God, the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

   All ways of living can be sanctified, and for each individual the ideal way is that to which God leads through the natural development of tastes and the pressure of circumstances.

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (modern translation)

Now Is the Time for Expressing Gratitude

These days of uncertainty in the economic and political world require that each of us return to a time honored practice - focusing on the blessings of our lives and expressing gratitude for all that we have. This extends to the air we breathe, the food we are able to buy and grow, and the companionship of people for whom we have love and affection.

It is very easy to be swayed by fear when all the news we are bombarded with gives us little or no comfort, and that is why as we gather together in appreciation for what is, rather than what is not, we draw greater peace of mind and circumstances that provide opportunity - even in times such as these.

This is a good time to take stock of our own abilities, gifts, talents, and what we find as really important rather than what advertisers and mass media tells us we should think is important. It's time to develop appreciation for the simple things in life, and get back to the basics that provide meaningful livelihood. We have been living in a bubble of inflated expectations and a mentality of greed that has been upping the bar to such an extent that many, many good people have fallen into hard times because they could not achieve the level of income or success demanded in order to share in the wealth of our nation. Now we see how much of that wealth was based on paper profits rather than solid foundations.

In looking within ourselves to find our own inner gold and inner fortitude, we can build our lives in such a way that we inherit the finer meaning of life -        expressing joy and sharing the love we hold for others in more meaningful ways that do not require extravagances in order to make our lives and time together special.

As we focus on the good that we have, share, and are...more comes. If we allow ourselves to be steeped in fear based on the news of the day, we miss major opportunities to see the beauty of life that persists in spite of the state of our economy.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 2008

Beginning Anew

As the year begins, we have an opportunity to look at what works in our lives and what doesn't. We have the options to re-create ourselves with the dawning of a new day. Somehow the changeover from one year to another gives a psychological boost to refreshing ourselves, our vision, and our intentions.

Whether or not we follow our intention sets a tone for the year. When we take the steps required to unfold what we've promised to ourselves, we are strengthened each day in the doing. However, when we forget or slide back into old habits we've determined to break, we let ourselves down, and we are diminished. Therefore, it's important to set a tone in the beginning that we are steadfast about each day, so that we will strengthen our will and develop the fortitude to make a success of the new start toward renewal. And if we stumble or forget, we can pick ourselves up again, knowing that each day brings a new dawn and a fresh start.

For today - let us remember that we are an incredible resource, here to contribute our light and service in ways akin to our heart. Let us not  see ourselves as anything less than precious, for this life is a gift to us all - and what we do with it is our gift to the Creator.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 2007

9 Essential Things Our Children Should Learn

 

http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=194

Medical Care in America

  Two patients limp into two different American Medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

  The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

  The second sees the family doctor after waiting a week for an appointment, then waits eighteen weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another month and finally has his surgery scheduled for 6 months from then.

   Why the different treatment for the two patients?

The first is a Golden Retriever.

A Whack On the Head!

One day, I had a moment of despair. What was I doing with my life? How could I make a more valuable contribution? I began thinking about all the things I hadn’t done, or done incorrectly, and pretty soon I was having a pity party with myself. I knew I was helping people – I take care of a one hundred year old great-aunt, and contribute to those in need, volunteer, etc. – but my pity was over the fact that I don’t have anything that is calling me – a project that is meaningful to me as my book was when I wrote it. And in this, I felt that because I’m now over sixty, life is probably done with. I’ll just slowly fade into the woodwork.

After I took time to wallow in self-pity, I cried. Then I got ready to go for an acupuncture appointment and my weekly day with my spry one hundred year old great aunt. I usually do her grocery shopping on the day I go to visit, but because I had an appointment with the doctor first, I did my shopping the day before. The things that needed refrigeration were in my fridge, and the rest was left overnight in the trunk of the car.

As I went outside to the car to put the refrigerator items in the trunk, I noted that I was holding too many things in one hand, and my purse was entangled with the grocery bag, preventing me from putting it in the trunk. I shouted at myself – “You stupid idiot, I’m sick and tired of you doing these dumb things!” As I leaned down to disentangle purse from groceries, I felt a sudden thud on my head. The lid of the trunk had crashed down on the back of my skull, almost knocking me over. I dropped everything, and the water bottle I carry everywhere started rolling down the driveway. I felt a sharp pain and momentary headache, and thought, “Oh, God. Have I really hurt myself? Do I have a concussion?” I steadied myself, got in the car, and sat quietly for a moment.

Almost immediately when I got quiet I saw the interrelatedness of it all. Action/reaction. My negative thoughts propelled me to further negative action and negative response, and then the universe stepped in. THUD! Sometimes we need a good whack on the head to disrupt the energy block, or to remind us to pay attention. I grabbed a CD of one of my favorite televangelists who always gives good advice, and there she was talking about a good whack on the side of the head! Synchronicity? Action/reaction? All of it. Coinciding events that come together in one confluent moment to give us an opportunity to re-evaluate and re-orient ourselves

In the moment, we might be seduced into believing that we aren’t enough, aren’t doing enough, or not getting enough for what we do – but the truth is that those thoughts are based on limited vision and expectation. When we learn to flow with the down times as well as the up times, and we hold on to that bright inner light regardless of what it looks like outside, life is good. After I got over my “tantrum”, I remembered to be grateful for all that I am, rather than what I’m not, for all the blessings I’m given, rather than what’s missing – and as I did, all kinds of good things have come in to affirm that I’m on the right track.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Winter 2007