Use spring to make a change your life
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
The appearance of a few blades of green grass and a red-breasted robin digging for worms let me know spring had arrived. Like many of you, I couldn't wait for the harsh cold winter nights and gray days to go by.
The wonder of spring makes it my favorite season. Mysteriously, buds appear on barren tree branches, daylight starts extending itself and we feel a bit more energized.
Chirping birds carrying melodic tunes can be heard in the air, and we ponder how flower seeds manage to push through the soil to bring forth colorful blossoms that give fragrant aromas and sooth our senses.
There's nothing like the arrival of spring. It's a season we welcome more than others. I know I do. I enjoy that rejuvenated feeling walking outside in the warm air and sunshine after the harsh winter months.
Historically, springtime has been a season known to stir love and romance in our hearts and minds. I know in my life, oftentimes, I have had new insights and found new friendships emerge in the spring.
The Scripture verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 indicates God's way is to bring new seasons. I believe He created the seasons in nature to help us grasp this concept. When the winds of adversity blow, it can be devastating as we suffer loss, hurts, pains and disappointments. We can hardly wait for some much needed change to emerge.
We can help the process by accepting our life path and working through the grief and the emotions of sadness and anger caused by disappointments.
Focusing on any good we can find can help new thoughts and feelings to emerge, such as buds bursting on those dead branches of the trees.
Learning new things helps. It doesn't have to be something complicated. It can include extending yourself in some way to meet new people. Oftentimes, simple changes, such as implementing a hobby, new T.V. show, or eating at a different restaurant, or shopping at a new store can make us feel alive again.
Other times, it's a matter of letting go of something that's not working in our life that makes the difference.
I just experienced this when I realized I was spending too much time on a particular activity. I made a deliberate change by allowing myself to spend only so much time on it each day. Within a short time, I was aware of other aspects of my life that I was missing out on.
Getting a better balance gave me extra time, energy and mental clarity. This small change felt like a breath of spring was wisped into my life.
Like the changing seasons, let's be willing to look at what aspects of our lives God may be directing us to change. Using this season to try something new can make our life blossom along with the buds of spring.
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. Annettee can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413. Annettee will speak at the Church of The Holy Spirit in Schaumburg on Wednesday, May 15. Anyone interested in attending can contact Nancy at (847) 894-7931 for details.