Anyone who has been following Washday Talks for a while now will know that I've been talking a lot about seasons - specifically the season of preparation. This is a period of time where we acquire, endure, and lose things for the development of our character. This season is often characterised by pressure and can be quite overwhelming, but if you maintain the right perspective, you will come out stronger. But what I must also tell you is that seasons change, that the place you are in currently is not where you will be forever. And due to our adaptive nature as human beings we may find it difficult to accept the fact that the very place we have learned to call home may be the same place we have to leave. Life moves on and within these moves we are presented with new triumphs and challenges which require us to make inner changes.
I am coming to terms with the fact that my specific season of preparation (although it will never fully cease) is coming to an end. The season of struggle and emotional stress is slowly easing off and I am being presented with newer opportunities and the beautiful fruit of my labour. I must remind myself that in the incoming season I will have to let go of the many coping mechanisms I have been using to keep me afloat. I have to understand that my loneliness is moving from a situation to a choice, that my hyper-independence which sustained me here may actually impede me in the next season. I must teach myself how to be generous to myself, how to pamper myself and enjoy things without the fear of being irresponsible. The season that taught me resource management and emotional stability was equipping me for future times where these skills would be needed, I can walk confidently into what life offers me knowing I am fully able to handle it.
I don't want us to get so used to the struggle of a previous season that we are no longer able to enjoy the benefits of incoming seasons. Likewise, I don't want our enjoyment of one season to render us incapable of surviving in a difficult one. Know that seasons change, for every harvest there will be a time of sowing. Enjoy the here and now but don't be unwise, store up the provisions and skills you will need for the future, and remember that for every sunrise there will be a sunset. Life goes on and seasons change so learn to let go of the things holding you back. If a season is changing, release it.
