What a Relief: 4 Ways to Deepen Your Connection with Change
Have you ever noticed how nature changes every day? With small incremental shifts, the natural world responds to the change of seasons. Sure, there are moments of dramatic change, but for the most part one day leads to the next and before you know it, summer has turned into fall, fall into winter, winter into spring, and spring into summer.
I had this realization a few months after my father died. At the time, I was experiencing the deepest grief I had ever known, and I was struggling to make sense of how to move forward with my life.
Observing small incremental shifts in the natural world became my lifeline during this difficult phase of my life. Seeing bare winter trees blossom with the coming of spring offered me my first sign of hope. Witnessing a rose opening, petal by petal, reassured me that I too could open to a new chapter in my own life – bit by bit. Watching seeds sprout and grow into plants that produced vegetables I could eat showed me that a successful harvest requires time, tending, and awareness.
The insights I received while observing how nature changes with the seasons created a grounded sense of calm deep within me. This positive new relationship with change encouraged me to look to the future with more optimism than I’d felt in many months.
With a few small shifts in your awareness, you too can create a new relationship with the shifts you experience by connecting with nature’s way of changing with the seasons.
- Connect with Nature’s Wisdom. Begin by becoming aware of your surroundings each day – during your commute, while taking a walk, when gazing out your window. Notice how the sky changes. Become aware of how the leaves change. Give yourself a bouquet of buds and notice how the flowers open. Plant and tend a garden. Watch the birds and animals around you, even your pets. Become curious. Notice the nuances that unfold around you each day. If your interactions with nature are limited, add nature photographers, gardeners, and travelers to your social media feed for plenty of natural inspiration.
- A Sense of How to Change. The seasons give us a sense of how the phases of each transition unfold naturally. The themes within each season provide metaphors for how we can move through each phase of a transition. In the fall, there is a letting go as the trees release their leaves and a time of preparation as animals get ready for the winter. During the depths of winter, animals generally hibernate to ride out the storms, migrate to warmer climates, or camouflage themselves for safety. In spring the world around us comes alive with activity, growth, and newness. Summer is a time of harvest and abundance. If you take these phases out order and try to bloom in a new way during the storms of winter, you’ll struggle.
- New Ways to Share Where You Are. Up until now, change has felt like a black box. Something happens, you find yourself in the dark, unsure of how to discover your way back to your life. You’ve had no way to describe where you are and how you are doing. By tapping into the metaphors of nature, you now have a way to give your loved ones (and yourself) a picture of where you are with your life transition. If you are struggling to socialize, you might share that you feel like hibernating for a while. If you are beginning to think about coming back into the world, you might share that you feel like a crocus poking through the snow. It’s amazing how sharing a simple picture helps your loved ones understand what you are going through.
- Connect with a Sense of Hope. Even after a long, difficult winter, spring returns. The timing of spring’s return may take longer than you’d wish, but rest assured, spring always comes. By healing the losses you’ve experienced and making peace with who you’ve been, you have the opportunity to step into a renewed version of yourself. One who laughs, experiences joy, and feels deeply connected to who you are becoming. If you are still experiencing the dark months of winter, hold onto this promise of sunshine. Spring will find you, too.
By embracing this new relationship with change, you have the opportunity to move with the changes unfolding in your life. Being open to new possibilities allows you to find lighter ways to empower yourself and create new chapters of your life.
Carol McClelland Fields, PhD, an award-winning author and Board Certified Coach, provides inspiration and practical support for those who are in the midst of transition. Embrace a new relationship with change. Carol works with people globally, including professionals who work with clients in transition, as an emerging or seasoned coach, therapist, or other Change Catalyst. Download Carol's eBook, Riding the Waves of Change: Growing, Healing, and Evolving Through Times of Deep Uncertainty at www.CarolMcClellandFields.com.
