Spring’s Rebirthing
Every spring, at least in Minnesota, where the yearly seasons are quite distinct from one another, a sense of renewal, awakening, and promise fills the air. After seeming to hold our collective breath all winter as protection against the cold, spring arrives with a quickening of the breath in the warming air and a hurried anticipation of how best to express the promise of spring.
Buds on the trees open with all their colorful and fragrant splendor. Flower shoots power upward through the soil, reaching skyward as though racing to greet the sun. Birds’ songs fill the air. Bees and butterflies and other creatures begin their work of pollinating or feasting or farming what blooms and grows each spring. The scent of spring hovers or glides silently on the passing breeze.
The Humility in Starting Over…Again
This annual starting over that arrives with every spring, this yearly re-do is also common to most of the world’s wisdom traditions and, most importantly, what it teaches all of us. I find spring to be a powerful reminder of our human need to start over…again…and again. There is a powerful humility that comes in recognizing that no matter our best intentions and our most careful planning, the reality is likely to be that for one of a thousand different reasons, we may fall short of reaching our desired goals. At least initially.
In working with clients, the frustration of falling short is often perceived by them as evidence of personal inadequacy, a badge of shame, or personal humiliation. Instead, this need to confront the gap between the goal and the achievement needs first to be pried away from a commentary on our basic goodness. As the saying goes, we can’t confuse human “beings” from human “doings.” Results are not synonymous with character or individual worth.
Perseverance over Perfection
If I had my druthers, I’d choose the personal quality of perseverance over perfection. The ability to stick with the work, to begin anew after being knocked down, to experience failure and to start again: those are the qualities that I most respect. These qualities are also the essence of resilience, which I see as perhaps the single most important innate characteristic we can exhibit.
None of us can fulfill the promise to be perfect. All of us will fail. Most of us, innumerable times. Yet, residing within resilience is hope, a belief in the potential for a better tomorrow, and the tenacious stubbornness necessary to keep putting one foot in front of the other as we edge, step-by-step, toward fulfilling our promise and our potential.
This spring, let’s model what nature is revealing - again: Every end has within it a new beginning. Enjoy the promise of this spring.