Learning To Embrace The Seasons

For most of my life, I had this belief that happiness was something I had to achieve and then I’d hold on to it forever.

I thought once I had reached the next goal, solved the next problem, or got through the next challenge, life would finally feel settled.

But life has a funny way of proving us wrong.

Just when things seem to be falling into place, something changes, something unexpected happens. A new challenge appears. A relationship shifts. Plans don’t work out. We find ourselves in a season we never would have anticipated to be in.

For years, I fought against the seasons.

I resisted change.

I compared life to people who seemed to be thriving while I constantly felt stuck. Facing set back after setback.

I would question why things weren’t moving along faster, or looking exactly how I planned them to be.

What I’ve come to realise is, life isn’t meant to stay the same.

It’s made up of seasons.

Nature Doesn’t Apologise for its Seasons

When winter arrives, the trees don’t panic.

They don’t force themselves to bloom.

They don’t compare themselves to the flowers that were thriving a few months earlier.

They simply do what the season requires.

They rest.

They conserve energy.

They trust that spring will come again.

Yet when we find ourselves in difficult seasons, our first thought is to believe there is something wrong with us.

We expect ourselves to be productive all the time.

Motivated all the time.

Happy all the time.

Growing all the time.

And honestly, that’s just not realistic.

Even nature understands the importance of seasonal changes. So why don’t we?

Not Every Season is Meant for Blooming

Some seasons are for building.

Some are for healing.

Some are for learning.

Some are for thriving.

And some are simply for surviving.

Looking back, there has been multiple periods of my life that felt like failure at the time.

Times when I’ve felt stuck or lost.

Unsure of where I was heading.

But now I can look back and realise those seasons were for teaching me things I couldn’t have learned any other way.

Patience.

Resilience.

Empathy.

Strength.

The lessons weren’t obvious when I was living through them, but as time moved on it became clear what they were.

Sometimes growth happens quietly.

Sometimes it happens underground.

Letting Go of the Timeline

One of the hardest things as someone who loves to plan. Is that life rarely follows the timeline we create in our heads. It just doesn’t work that way.

We imagine where we’ll be by a certain age.

What our relationships will be like.

What our careers will look like.

How confident, successful and certain we’ll feel.

Then life takes a different path.

For a long time, I saw that as failure.

Now I’m trying to see it as redirection.

Just because life doesn’t look the way you planned doesn’t mean it’s going badly.

Sometime it simply just means you’re in a different season than you expected.

Find Beauty in the Season You’re in

I used to spend so much time wishing for the next chapter, that I constantly missed the one I was actually living.

I was always waiting.

Waiting for things to feel easier.

Waiting until I felt happier.

Waiting until I had more time, more confidence, and more certainty.

But life doesn’t begin when things are ‘perfect.’

Life is happening right now, through the messy moments, uncertain moments and in the ordinary moments.

There is beauty in this season too. Even if it’s not the season you would have chosen to be in.

Trusting That Seasons Change

One of the most comforting things about seasons is that they never last forever.

They difficult seasons pass.

The lonely seasons pass.

The overwhelming seasons pass.

The season where you felt lost, end up giving you clarity.

And even the beautiful seasons remind us to be grateful because they won’t last forever either.

Life is constantly moving, changing and constantly inviting us to grow along side it.

Still Figuring It Out

I’m still learning to embrace the seasons I’m in.

Some days I do it well.

Other days I find myself wishing things weren’t different.

But I am learning that peace doesn’t come from being in control of ever season, but from accepting it.

Trusting it, living it.

Maybe your current season isn’t the one you would have chosen for yourself.

Maybe it feels uncomfortable, uncertain or even painful.

But maybe it’s preparing you for something you can’t see just yet.

And maybe the goal isn’t to just rush into the next season.

Maybe the goal is just trying to learn what it’s trying to teach you.

After all, we’re all just figuring it out as we go.

And I’m learning to be grateful for all the seasons have taught me over the years.

“Growth doesn’t always look like blooming. Sometimes it looks like roots growing deeper beneath the surface.”

Lets Keep the Conversation going

What’s something you’ve learned from a hard season? Comment below I’d love to hear from you