The days may be short,
The air cold and the sky grey,
You may be struggling to see any lightness right now and the winter in the world outside may be affecting you and your world within.
Nature does not want you to hate her,
She does not want you to feel sad in these moments and colder times,
This is just her cycle and her season and it will pass as it will for you too.
If nature does not go through winter,
She will never move on from the past and she will never enter her spring and neither will you.
If you do not experience a winter,
How will you reach your spring?
Sometimes we cannot see what nature's winter is teaching us,
For we have learnt to dislike it,
To only want the warmth,
Yet how do you know what is warm when you have not touched the cold?
Nature is showing you something.
Are you looking up at the world right now or are you looking down?
Sometimes it's hard to take your hood down and feel the rain against your face,
It's hard to feel how cold your hands get,
It's hard to feel the wind blowing past you,
But what if you looked at it differently?
What if you felt it all?
What if you were present in that moment of discomfort?
What would you see?
What would you feel?
You would see that it's not that scary after all.
Winter is not here to punish you,
It's not here to hurt you,
It's here to teach and show you.
It's here to offer your life a contrast.
For what would we be if only one level?
Even when many of us try and have a life of level,
We don't.
We cannot always control what happens,
We cannot always foresee what's next.
We don't want unwanted things to happen,
The discomfort is not wanted.
But how can we change it?
Because sometimes we can't.
I guess it's about riding the ocean waves instead of drowning in a puddle.
Sometimes it is what it is,
And we cannot always change it,
But we can change how we think about it.
Because either way,
Each year,
Winter arrives.
Will you continue to dread it and spend months within darkness?
Or will you learn that it's going to happen and dance upon the darkened clouds and live through it?
In winter,
The trees are empty.
They have let go of what they held on so tightly to in spring and summer.
Autumn taught you to let go,
And now winter is teaching you presence.
It's offering you a different feeling,
A different meaning.
Depression and sadness can feel like this too.
The dread of the darkened days,
The want for no longer.
I've been there too.
But in these winter times,
You must see that this is not how it's meant to be.
You are not meant to feel this coldness and pain.
You are not meant to see this as the end.
You are meant to see this as your downtime,
As a full stop,
The end of what was.
This is the foundation of your ability to start again.
Listen to me carefully.
You are the most precious person in your world.
Without you,
That world doesn't exist.
You are wanted and needed.
We need you.
We want you.
Now take my hand and let me show you the way to live through winter.
Walk with me in a forest.
Let me show you what we've been taught,
But what we do not see.
For it is not so scary.
It is not painful.
It is just different.
Close your eyes and feel the coolness.
Hear the rustle of the bare branches.
You're safe.
It's just a feeling.
Just a change in temperature.
But could you recognize summer if you didn't feel winter's breeze?
It's just different.
Take a deep breath.
The air is still fresh.
You are alive.
So be present.
Be here.
Winter is nature's downtime.
To let everything and everyone slow down.
Yet life does not always allow that.
We live with demand after demand.
But we can let some go.
You will not regret making more time for your well-being,
But you will regret not.
The bushes are bare.
No undergrowth.
The earth is sleeping.
Birdsong is minimal.
Nature listening to nature.
They are following her teachings.
Feel the coolness pass your face.
And know that at the end of winter,
Around the corner is spring.
A time where new life appears.
Where buds on flowers bloom and leaves grow back.
It's a time that we get ready for whatever is next.
But how could you do that if you never let go of what came before?
A whole new year of excitement and possibilities.
But when all you want is for winter to fade away,
You are missing the lesson.
Winter is a time to stop.
It's a moment of steadiness and self-care.
Winter is here to offer you space and time to rest.
So that you can start again.
If you do not see that,
How can you heal?
How can you go into the next season of your life with everything that you dragged through the last?
It will be heavy.
It may even hurt.
So you must listen and see that winter is not a punishment.
It is not to cause you pain.
It is a time of learning and of letting go.
It is simply a path for you to walk upon.
And know that every raindrop you feel,
That nature is with you.
She is telling you she is there and that she can see you.
A cold wind is a reminder to let it go.
Your life is precious.
You are not on this earth to be held down.
You are here to bloom.
Now look at what is holding you in this negative space in winter.
What is stopping you learning?
Is it old,
Outdated ways?
People's words are convincing that it's bad.
The next time you go outside and it is not what you want it to be,
Just look around and see what nature is teaching you.
You never know.
It might change your whole perspective on winter.
Spring is waiting,
But only after winter.
