Jennifer Russo

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed … convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Finally, the very beginnings of spring are upon us; a time of renewal and new things. It got me thinking about how nature simply knows when it is time for its rebirth. It waits patiently within the frozenness of winter until the conditions are perfect. Then, seemingly in a moment, we are surrounded by warmth, color and the sweet scent of flowers blooming. The world around us changes suddenly, and we are all excited to take part in it.

Our aspirations are much like the seeds in the ground and the buds within the trees, waiting for the right moment to spring forward to life. Like those seeds, though, we have to be patient enough to wait for the true thaw. If we are impatient and push forward before the conditions are right, we may never see these goals come to fruition.

On occasion, we will see this phenomenon on one of the first warm days. We might see a bud pop up through the earth, just to have a frost kill it the next morning. Imagine: All that work it did to grow and wind up into the fresh air, just to be denied an opportunity to bloom. Sometimes, we have circumstances in our lives that keep us frozen in place and we need to simply wait it out before we take the next step. This is often the universe’s way of asking us to be patient while it releases those obstacles for us so we can reach our true potential.

Once this thaw comes, we are also going to need to be willing to do the work it will take to accomplish those goals. Many times, we have all of these ideas that we plant into our hearts and minds, but when it comes time, we don’t want to make the effort. Sometimes, it may be fairly easy, and sometimes, we are going to need to push through that gravel and dirt and make our way around rocks in order to achieve our goals. The key is to keep going, even when it seems tough.

When we do reach the part when we can show off all of the work we have done and be proud of the accomplishments that are now manifested, nature also teaches us that we need to be willing to share the glory. A flower blooms and releases some of its seeds to the ground or allows the bee to take some of its pollen for nourishment. In following this pay-it-forward concept, there is opportunity to be even greater than you may have originally set out to be.

Ohm Shanti.