Spring and a Better You Are On the Way!
“No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turns.”~Hal Bourland
But it can seem that way! Yes, I admit I’m impatient. It was sixty degrees and the wind blew like crazy again today. (If the wind ever quits blowing in Nebraska, everyone will fall down). But you know what? There are still huge piles of yucky, dirty old snow all over the place and everywhere you look it’s brown, brown, brown. Cold, soggy and brown. I want spring and I want it now! Who’s with me? C’mon Mother Nature, hurry up! Let’s get a move on!
You know what I think? I think Fixer Upper is to blame. I’m sure it is! In case you don’t know, Fixer Upper is a phenomenally successful show on HGTV in which the hosts Chip and Joanna magically transform outdated, dreary and boring homes from drab to fab in the twinkling of an eye. What would take mere mortals months to do is all completed in a speedy fake TV timeline and wrapped up in an hour. I wish spring would show up like that. Wouldn’t is be great to whiz through all the muddy, messy parts and get right to green and gorgeous?
Hungry for change
Matthew Kelly writes in his book Perfectly Yourself that we are all born with a hunger, a yearning in our heart for something more, something better. That hunger in our heart is what makes us want to improve and to become the best possible version of who were were created to be. Every savvy marketer knows this about us. We all have an insatiable desire to be better than we are. We want to change but we’ve been inculturated to believe it all happens as fast as an episode of Fixer Upper and that can leave us disillusioned with our results.
Lent is the season that bridges winter to spring. It lasts for forty days, a very wise and realistic amount of time to bring about change. It’s also designed to be a bridge from where we are right now to where we want to be. However, it’s vitally important to remember it is a bridge and not an express elevator from here to there. Improvement is a process, not an outcome. What we are becoming is far more important than what we have and what we achieve. We need to focus more on progress than results. If we do, we are far more likely to stay on task and avoid disappointment.
Spring will come but…
Failure and setbacks are part of the process. Like the weather, there will be sunny days and icy blasts before we get to spring. But rest assured, spring will arrive and so will our better self if we keep working at it. The key is to ask yourself, “Am I better today than I was yesterday?” “Did I improve in a particular area and where else can I become a better me?” Progress is positive change and progress should always be our main concern no matter how small it make seem.
I encourage you to make the next six weeks a time of growth and progress. Lent is not about subtracting, it’s about adding. More about becoming everything God created you to be. More kindness, more patience, more joy, more beauty, more peace, more truth. Lent’s ultimate purpose is to help us to see life with new eyes.
Always remember you are a miracle and you are loved! See you Thursday!
