21 November 2017
Winter’s life lesson
Winter has arrived and don’t we know it! Everywhere I go, winter is all people talk about – mostly in negative terms. About the days being gloomy, cold and wet, how it is best to stay inside if you can, ..
As you know by now, I don’t really have a choice. Good or bad weather, the daily walk with Django goes ahead. His boundless energy needs an outlet. And he obviously doesn’t complain about winter – that dog of ours never loses his enthusiasm.
So today, wrapped in warm clothes, with my hiking boots to trample through the mud and gloves to prevent icy fingers, I’m on my way up the ‘mountain’ with the dog. Once on top the world seems frozen in a still mist. The familiar cows are no longer in the meadow, the trees have lost their final leaves. Their dark silhouettes contrast against the grey snowy sky.
The stillness feels deathlike, mysterious. The leaves of the trees and plants are dying. The lively and fresh colours have been replaced by shades of brown. Some plants have gone completely underground, as if they never were. The seeds of summer have fallen into the ground, now cold and frozen, covered in snow in some places.
But appearances deceive. This is a necessary phase in nature’s cycle of life in this place on earth. This phase of apparent dying is needed to create new life in spring.
This realisation helps me to appreciate this season (and not complain). The wonder of nature and its endless creative power fills me with admiration.
Some animals go into hibernation and we humans also traditionally slow down towards the end of the year. Everything turns inwards, also literally – we stay inside, at home, cherishing the warmth. It is also the period of looking back – the traditional end-of-year programmes on radio and TV about the highs and lows of the past year. We also look forward when making our resolutions and wishing each other the best for the New Year.
I again plan to consciously create a new Word-of-the-Year. The past year my word was ‘focus’. Looking back it served me well, as some kind of well-lit beacon. If you want to freshen up on this practice, you can read my Inspiration again. Or you can contact me for a coaching session on this topic.
I wish you all a wonderfully decelerating end of year. Cherish yourself and your loved ones in these moments, look back on what is past with lots of compassion and take a moment to contemplate how you want to be in 2018, in your life and in your world.
See you next year!
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What if ....?
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