Turn, Turn, Turn

The winter comes and everything around us changes, or at least in our location. The season of summer moves into fall, and brings her transformations known. The colors from spring to summer now turn to fall, yellows, browns, reds, and then barren trees filling the skies. Bushes, flowers, shrubs, all thin out; some appear to die, hibernating through the upcoming winter, safe and unseen deep in mother earth’s arms.

Life mimics the cycles and rhythms of nature. Birth, growth, maturity, death, and the ever continuation of the cycles. Death is so much more than physical, as I’ve witnessed the many forms of death in my journey, including the physical. The death of a sense of hope can lead a person down a lonely and sorrowful road. Those of us humans who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) experience a very real affect from these changes that others struggle to understand.

Life is full of changes. How we learn to adapt and flow with these changes can impact our quality of life, attitude, and personal outlook. We all have a “life of origin”, from family, friends, educators, neighborhoods, DNA, schools, and so on. Much of how we view ourselves, and the belief systems we buy into, are created from these people, our labels of self perception. But do we have to be what our “life of origin” defines of us?

Changes in life are full of choices and consequences. Do I choose that or this? Do I react to this or that? Am I willing to live with the consequences of my choices? Do I even understand the consequences? The rhythmic flow of life changes move at their own pace, with no consultation from us humans. I pose to you, my friend and reader, that you have the power of choice to choose your direction in life, no matter the circumstances or your “life of origin”. In my journey, I have found that the consequences and emotions related to our choices often are the very roadblocks to our wellbeing.

God gave us the ability to have free choice in our lives. We also have the ability to direct our minds in the direction we choose. The changes of life come like the seasons of nature, or rain from black clouds, or the oceans tide. Choosing an attempt to control the changes that are not ours or choosing to understand change, learning to remain healthy in the flow, appears to always be our choice. I encourage you, my friend and reader, to make choices that will lead you through the changes of life, creating a healthy centeredness and inner peace in your life. Seek the help you need, bury your roots deep in God’s love, and learn to rest in simplicity. Our lives will always change, and the seasons of life are ours to grasp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder
http://www.webmd.com/depression/tc/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-topic-overviewhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195
http://www.bigeye.com/attitude.htm
(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)

Comments

  1. KSeptember 28, 2009 at 10:11 AM

    There is simplicity, and although I catch fleeting moments of it, and oh how blissful it is...I find it almost impossible to live there. So how do we accomplish that and live life in today's world? I have yet to find that balance. It makes me want to run away even more at times and just dissapear into some happy dwelling where "our" world doesnt really exist, or push, or demand...

    ReplyDelete
  2. RodneySeptember 28, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    One word comes to mind: Purposefully. I agree, we probably can't live 100% in simplicity, and maybe we shouldn't. I find when I turn off the TV and spend some time alone, I'm most simple. Keep up the good fight.

    ReplyDelete

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