Spring is a time for change ... for us too

Spring has sprung and all is new!

Do you feel it?  There is a change in the air.  The sun is a bit brighter and lasting longer, the air is losing it's crispness, and the flowers are beginning to bloom!  Where I live I know that Spring is coming by the place of the sun at sunset and hearing the cries of the returning osprey.  If you haven't looked closely to notice, yes, the sun does set in the west, but not due west.  As winter changes to spring, and spring to summer, and summer to fall and back into winter, the sunset moves from the SSW to the NNW.  Watching where it sets let's me know how far into the season we have come and when the next season will be arriving.  Yes, I know, there is technology to tell me this, but nature doesn't typically require a re-boot if the software or app acts up.

I am not at all anti-technology, but I do feel it would serve us well to return to our roots in nature.  Have you ever reflected on what the earliest humans felt and thought when it came to the nature around them?  I can only imagine the confusion and fear that first autumn/winter, wondering why the trees were dying, why the crops stopped growing and the green plants turned brown.  Where and why did the animals go hide, and why have the birds flown away?  I would imagine their feelings turning to despair as time moved on and the conditions did not change.  If you didn't know spring and summer were returning, what would you be thinking, feeling and doing?  And then, wow!  The animals are returning, birds arriving in the skies, trees coming back to life!  It's all back!!  Can you imagine?!  They must have been in awe, wonder, surprise, gratitude ....  All is again well with the world, and with them.  Over time they would learn to read nature's signs and adjust their lives accordingly.  Imagine what that learning process was like.  The joys in the revelations and new-found knowledge must have been incredible!

How are you effected by the arrival of spring?  Do you sense the newness?  In a previous post I reflected on autumn, mentioning some tips for making the most of the season.  So, what can we do to make the most of spring? In the same vein of our early ancestors, spring is a time for us to be filled with awe and wonder at the new possibilities.  Irregardless of what has happened in our lives, as nature is now re-born, we too are re-born.  We have an opportunity to do things differently; to change.  But how can I change?  What if I feel stuck?

Most of us have felt stuck in our lives at some point.  Or feel that way now.  One of the aspects of why we feel stuck is due to our own thinking.  We convince ourselves, through our thoughts, that we are stuck.  Yes, there may be real world issues keeping us stuck, but even so, our thoughts influence how we feel.  A counselor I have known now for many years, Terrance Gorski (a prolific author), wrote this quote:

"I am capable of thinking ...yet I am not my thoughts; I am the thinker of my thoughts; therefore I can change what I feel and still be me."

In other words, since I am the one who thinks and creates my thoughts, it is in my power and capacity to change my thoughts.  In so doing I change the way I feel.  This in no way changes the situation in the real world, but if  I can change how I feel and think, I will create the ability to make the necessary changes in my life.

Just as spring brings newness from the dead of winter, changing our thoughts has the power to bring newness to our lives.

1. Spend a moment, in quiet, thinking about those areas in your life you want, or need, to change.  Make a list.
2. On your list write down your thoughts/feelings about those areas of your life.
3. What is the new thought you need to have to make the necessary changes? Ask someone for help in doing this.
4. Practice daily, hourly, by the minute if necessary, thinking in your new way.

Share with us here, or on the official Facebook page, how you were able to make your changes and the techniques you used.  What worked and what didn't?  How did you overcome the struggles?  We all could benefit from what you learned!

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