Day 4: Is Spring Here Yet?

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.”

~Anne Bradstreet

An observation that I make every fall is that people are always complaining how cold the weather is becoming.  I am guilty of this as well.  However, I quickly remind myself that if we had these same temperatures in March or April, we would be over the moon with excitement and some of us would already be breaking out the capri pants and sandals.  While I am not “crazy” enough to still wear sandals in this chilly fall weather, the different perspectives based on the time of the seasons are not lost on me.

It’s hard to apply this seasonal metaphor to life.  I guess, like the seasons, life has to have its good times and its bad times.  Unlike the seasons, though, there is no way to predict how long the good times and bad times will last in life.  When will this winter end?  If I knew how much longer I had to hold on for the “nice weather,” perhaps it would be easier to keep myself going.  Right now I feel like there is no end in sight.  And to make that a little worse, the winter is coming (the real one… the metaphorical one is already here).

If anything, this difficult time is making me realize how wonderful my life was just a little while ago.  At that time I had things to complain about, but if I could go back now I would tell myself that those complaints aren’t worth it.  I have a much better appreciation of what I had before – and maybe that’s what I’m supposed to take from this experience.  Perhaps I’m supposed to be reflecting on what makes my life “happy” and “worthwhile” and what makes it “difficult.”  What really constitutes “winter” and “spring?”

For now I will remind myself that things will get better – they have to, because spring always follows the winter.  I will also keep in mind that we can’t have spring and summer all year ’round – so it’s only a natural part of life that there are challenges, and droughts, and experiences that we just wish would end.