I believe in seasons. Actually, I love them. I need them. They bring balance to my life. In the change of seasons, I find examples of that marvelous concept the Greeks called Eudaimonia – or human flourishing. Human flourishing is the idea that the well-lived life requires a pursuit of balance which leads to health, happiness, and the expression of each individual to thrive.

The coming and going of each season reminds us that there is a time for everything, a time to be planted and watered, to sprout, to blossom, and even to hibernate. These seasonal changes also serve as a metaphor for the ebbs and flows of life itself. The great American poet Anne Bradstreet observed, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

NEW BEGININGS 

And now Spring has arrived. Spring! Do you feel it? If not, it’s time to go outside and find a flower garden, or climb a mountain, or simply watch the hummingbirds. Love is in the air. New beginnings. Fresh starts. Gone are the days of hibernation and cold. How badly we need this transition from Winter to Spring!

True, our seasonal transitions are a bit different from past generations. Certainly, we have modern inventions which simulate a comfortable climate in our homes. Perhaps we do not slow down in Winter as did our great grandparents. But there remains an unmistakable change that we experience emotionally and psychologically as we make the transition into April.

Even so, it is possible for parents to move so fast that we miss smelling the proverbial roses of Spring. And when we miss that refreshing and renewing experience, expect that our children will miss it too. Can you live with that loss? I cannot.

So today. I propose that we — all of us — set our minds to the task of using this Spring to refresh our spirit and our souls. Will you join me on this adventure? Next week on this blog, we will dive right in with some special ideas on how to do just that. For today, I leave you with the words of Mark Twain:

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

Kindest regards,

David McAlvany