Signs of Spring: Understanding and Accepting Our Personal and Professional Changes
Spring is magical! While the snows continue to flurry in the mountains,
something starts to happen closer to the valley floor. New life springs up
beneath wintry dirt and leaves and between old rocks, still shivering from
winter. The sun’s rays crest the mountain tops, carefully warms the old rocks
and the wintry dirt and the seeds and roots that lie beneath it all.
Spring is amazingly symbolic of our own lives, especially the changes
that we make and the opportunities that come to us. While in real life, spring
comes only once per year, we can experiences numerous springs and beginnings
and take advantage of the beauty and the newness of it all.
Change can happen often in our lives. Sometimes those changes come
suddenly, like a loss of a family member, a loss of a job, or even a loss of
something valuable in our lives. It is really how we deal with those changes
that will allow us to have incredible spring times and flourishing lives. And
thinking about spring and its many beautifies can only enhance our way of
thinking and doing.
One of my most favorite spring flowers is the bleeding heart. It comes
up early, and when it receives lots of sun, it grows inches every single day
until those gorgeous pinkish red heart-shaped blossoms burst into being. When I
look closely, I see incredible formations, some flat and others plump, but they
are all divinely designed to look like hearts. Some are in clusters, but the
ones that totally thrill me are the ones that are lined up on a single vine. So, we, too, must have open hearts to hear what needs to be heard and feel what needs to be felt in order for us to truly fulfill our destinies.
I also think of the crocus. They just pop up when they are good and
ready. They don’t care if there is snow, rain, hail, or sleet. They burst
through the cold ground, usually the first of the flowering plants in the
garden. They are so sturdy. When I see them, I marvel at their tenacity of
being the first ones to show their faces. That’s what entrepreneurs are. They
are the first ones up and ready to go, no matter what the market seems to be
saying. Their byline is “We’re ready! Are you?”
Ah, the beautiful daffodils. They are just plain stunning. If you look
closely, they follow the sun, the source of light. For example, this morning
when I was walking, I noticed that a huge cluster of daffodils in a neighbor’s
yard was facing the rising sun. Now, you could barely see the rays just spilling over the mountains, but every single daffodil had transitioned its gorgeous
yellow head toward the light.
In our case, the light signifies new ideas and opportunities. We move
toward and focus on those wonderful ideas and opportunities. When we do, we can
see them and eventually grasp them and then keep them in the light so they can
grow and develop.
Not long after the crocus and daffodils—and sometimes together—come the
hyacinths, pinks, whites, purples. They are a bit more solid, stouter than the
crocus. Plus, their many blossoms format tight bonds that keep them straight
and proud. They truly are a team, working together to make each other look
bigger, better, stouter, just like our own teams in the workplace. We just do
better and work more efficiently when we work as teams.
Another favorite of mine is the Magnolia tree, fondly called the “tulip
tree” at our house. Literally, the branches are bare for a long time, and then
the “tulips” also burst forth, hiding the ugly branches that hold their life.
All of us possess flaws and challenges in our lives. But when we put forth our
best qualities and grow and enhance them, we cover up the flaws. Now, the flaws
haven’t gone away, and we still need to overcome them, but our good qualities
and capabilities take over and create an incredible aura that attracts people
to us.
The flowering trees and flowers are reminiscent of our own personal and
professional changes. Each day we can watch these flowering wonders change,
from tiny buds on a newly trimmed tree to full blossoms. We are like that, and
so are our employees. We watch and we watch and we watch, and then one day:
Poof! The blossoms are out and cover the whole tree. The flourish of beautiful
colors is absolutely incredible. While it took time to bud and then to expand,
it seems that the blossoms happen overnight although they really don’t. They
literally have to mature to blossom.
So it is with us. We, too, must learn to blossom, no matter where we
might be placed or what job we might have. Our perpetual springs will happen,
perhaps not as fast as we will like, but they will happen. The key, then, is to
continue watching and nurturing our skills and abilities and capacities, and we
will blossom like those spring flowers in our gardens.
And, finally, we hope to understand and accept our personal and
professional changes and bask in the growth they afford us.
