Spring Into Changing Growth

There is something about the onset of Spring that reminds us things change, even when we don’t want them to, they just do.  The snow melts, the rains come and the flowers begin to explode into colorful life.  They are alive and brand new!  We feel refreshed, rejuvenated and injected with the motivation to indulge all that the new season has in store.  I suppose one can say change is growth.  And that growing change is truly a gift.  One that can be so invigorating knowing that a new day is upon us with promise of adventurous experiences.

When we are consumed by our daily routines, we can fail to notice how much has transitioned in comparably small amounts of time.  Photos can be such a great way to measure change.  I have had moments when I look at a picture of myself from 5, 10, 20 years ago and I instantly recall what I was feeling during that season of my life.  I begin to reflect on the moment captured and start to calculate how much has changed in me and around me since it was taken.  Lately, a lot of photos remind me of when my parents were here, as if that’s a measure of time, an era all my own.  Instead of before Christ (“BC”) and after Christ (“AD”), it becomes before or after Mami and Papi left this earth.  I gaze at a photo and think, “Oh, this was the last birthday they were here for, the last Christmas” and so on.  It’s crazy how much changes in a minute, a day and a year.  Some change can be incredibly sad to reflect on.  Other photos trigger self-mourning.  Who I was, what I was thinking or doing in that chapter.  Pitying my clue-less-ness and the foolery I was on while other pictures make me want to jump into the frame and relive every minute of that day when I recall the joy and happiness I was feeling.      

Most times we aren’t bluntly honest about how incredibly painful growth and change can be.  My biggest transitions happened in the loneliest and most painful seasons of my life.  That one child that stretched you to your limit in those years of raising. (we all got one or more of those, huh? LOL) That heavy relationship that pulled up and out all of the flaws I was so blissfully ignoring.  (That character mirror can be hella harsh, right?) The one constant we can rely on with change/growth/stretching is… it WILL come.  We can accept it and flow with it or we can get dragged kicking and screaming, the choice is ours to make.  Change is growth and growing involves breaking out of spaces that are no longer for us.  And honestly, we should worry if we DO fit into the same space in 10 years because just like a baby at a 2 week check-up, that scale and measurement taken shows that baby has been nurtured and given all they need to move into a new day.  This is proof that growth is such a vital part of life, we should not fear it one bit.

As we look ahead at Spring, let’s vow to accept change with grace, inspire growth by watering seeds in our gifts allowing us to bless those around us.  And may we look back in awe at where we have been lifted from, what we have overcome.  No matter what happens tomorrow, we know it will be a NEW day and it’s up to us to embrace all that comes with it (or resist the inevitable).  Posture yourself wisely, Beloved.