Embrace Your Seasons

Our lives are a lot like the 4 seasons that we know so well. We have Spring when the trees are blooming and our spirit feels like it is slowly rejuvenating after a long, harsh Winter. In the Summer we feel alive with exercise and fresh air, and yet by the time Autumn  and its crimson and gold roll around we are ready to begin curling up in a cozy blanket.

Our lives and relationships also tend to go through changes, but that's o.k. We have different seasons in our lives: our youth, perhaps getting married or having our firstborn, our careers, and eventually our golden years. With each segment of our lives comes an array of responsibilities and new adventures. Realistically our journeys will overlap with those we are in relationships with. I remember years ago when I was first married; I was moving into a new season in my life while my friends were still in a different one. Suddenly we no longer had anything in common and drifted apart. Years later some of those relationships rejoined once our seasons overlapped.

We need to remember that people don't always choose to walk away from us - sometimes it's just the changing of a season. I'll admit I've sometimes had a difficult time with that. When my son was born I was 23 and one of the youngest moms in my neighborhood. When I had my daughter 9 years later and was 32 I was suddenly older then the other moms in her class. Our seasons were overlapping. Now both of my children are adults and I often struggle to know which group I fit in with.

So what do we do? We learn to embrace our seasons. We start to focus more on where we are and less where everyone else is. Let the others connect with us. We cannot change ourselves to mesh with others just as we cannot expect them to change for us. Our seasons are either in line with each other or they aren't. New relationships and adventures will appear if they are meant to be, but don't be so quick to move on past the old ones. A lot can be learned from them and they may just show up on your doorstep when you least expect them?

Have you ever experienced this? How did you get through it?