The Art of Being




 

 

“There seems to be a kind of order in the universe, in the movement of the stars and the turning of the earth and the changing of the seasons, and even in the cycle of human life.”

— Katherine Anne Porter

The spring equinox

Spring has sprung, and the lessons it brings are prolific if we are open to seeing how they apply in our own lives.

There is little doubt that the turning of the year can have a deep-seated effect on our personal seasons. Spring can serve as a master teacher, perhaps with a lesson regarding our physical health, a relationship or a career.

In the Northern Hemisphere March 20 brings the spring equinox, which for thousands of years has been celebrated as a time of rebirth and renewal. Aligning yourself with the energy of the equinox provides an opportunity to enter the flow of life with grace and ease.

I just returned from an earlymorning walk in my meditation garden. Everything is just beginning to bloom; each tree is showing signs that the fruit it was created to manifest is on the way; likewise, each rosebush is now thriving, revealing the unique beauty of the flowers it was meant to share with the world.

As I sat in the quiet among the fruit trees, palm trees and various kinds of flowers, I listened and watched closely: Not once did I hear or see even one of these beautiful expressions of life grunt, push, strain or otherwise try to force its fruit or flowers to grow.

It’s clear that everything in nature has its own rhythm, its own way of trusting the life force that sustains it. The energy of life moves like a river going wherever gravity beckons. We can no sooner push the flow of life than we can push the river. Every living thing grows in its own time by opening to the flow and being what it was created to be.

The lesson here is that when we are aware of our oneness with life we enter a sacred vortex of “spiritual gravity”: It flows freely to us and through us in purposeful ways.

When I compare how nature “does life” so effortlessly to how we so often struggle, thinking we have to force or push things in a specific direction to create a fruitful and rewarding life, I have to chuckle.

Life flows—we need not try to push it.

But that’s often what we do. We attempt to defy “gravity”; we resist the manner, pace and direction in which life naturally wants to progress.

We do it with our relationships. We do it with our finances. We even do it with our bodies. We often try to make things go the way we want them to before they are ready, ignoring the same infinite intelligence within us that does such a great job in the garden.

One of the greatest lessons the four seasons of the year offer us is patience—the subtle energy of life that knows only perfect timing.

It my book “The Art of Uncertainty: How to Live in the Mystery of Live and Love It,” I wrote that with patience we can ripen naturally, learning to pace ourselves and understanding that growth requires a cycle of the seasons.

“Some are seasons of light, others darkness. Some of the seasons we must go through are, no doubt, darker than others.”

The blessing of this season is that it announces the coming of light. As we emerge from the darkness of winter, we naturally enter the light of spring—and with light comes the ability to see what lies before us through new eyes.

Patience laced with faith seems to be the practice when it comes to growing anything worthwhile, including a renewed version of ourselves.

There is indeed order in the universe, in the movement of the stars, the turning of the earth, the changing of the seasons and the cycle of human life—and that is a reassuring thing: As you enter the season of spring may you make a point of remembering that you are one with something infinitely greater than yourself, and it knows what it is doing.

Certainly if it knows how and when to unfold the beauty and grace of a rose, it knows how and when to unfold the beauty of a life worth living through and by means of you.

Faithfully align with it and step into the new light it brings, trusting and knowing that you are the place where transformation is happening.

Now take a deep breath and smile—here comes a new day, and it’s got your name all over it.

Copyright 2013-New Reality Press. Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author. Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.


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