It Comes Regularly and Without Our Permission

We have bulbs coming up in our woods. They have poked their little heads out of the ground and today or tomorrow they will probably bloom. For us here in Georgia those jonquils are the first sign that Spring is on it’s way. Hooray! Everyone I talk to – at the grocery store, the doctor’s office, stores, other customers – all comment about how cold our Winter has been and how ready they are for Spring.

I have to admit, “cold” in North Georgia is no where near the cold I experienced growing up outside of Chicago. It doesn’t even compare. So when people complain about the “cold” I usually comment about it not being Chicago cold. (Which I do to remind myself as well!) And they agree, we usually laugh and then comment about the bulbs coming up in their yard. I am amazed at how much hope those little green stalks provide as we weather through until Spring arrives. Just knowing the season is about the change has the power to make everything we’re tired of less annoying.

Spring is made better by the very existence of Winter. Cold, dull, damp days make the sight of green almost exotic! It is the reminder that everything changes which brings both excitement and a reality check. What was planted last year, what bloomed last Spring, what has only just begun to grow all suddenly flood back into our thoughts. They remind us that our efforts have not been in vain AND things will be bigger and better this year.

I think it’s pretty easy analogy, life is like the seasons. We’re coming out of Winter and heading into Spring – woo hoo!!! When we’re ready for a change, change cannot happen soon enough. If pouring fertilizer on everything would make it happen faster I would go down to the Feed Store and buy out their fertilizer supply. Just like in life when we are ready for a change it cannot come soon enough. We look forward to the new, the different, the alterations that change provides. We willingly do the chores – cleaning, organizing, learning, growing, moving – that change demands as we are ready. Well, we think we are ready until a change hits that we were not expecting. That’s when we hunker down and hide our heads hoping the change will pass us by.

Like the seasons, change comes regularly and without our permission. We must go with the flow and do the work required of this new season, this new change in life. We can embrace it or let it run us over. Those of us who have been around a while know that hiding doesn’t work. The flowers always bloom, the grass turns green and grows, and change will come into our lives whether we like it or not. So let us enjoy the madness that is the arrival of Spring, let us enjoy this change of season and embrace all that it brings to our door. And let’s remind ourselves that change will come our way, so maybe a little madness will help us deal with those changes as well.