The mighty ocean teaches us so much. It is where many songs have been written. It is where many lives have been lost. It is the place of battles and celebration, crises and conquest. Its rushing tides are not afraid nor intimidated. It just flows and brings to the shore those things that it chooses and hurls them at the land as if it were evicting certain objects and snatching others. Perhaps that is why the ocean has persevered for so long. It knows how to release some things and grasp others. If you are going to survive, take a lesson from the ocean. Hurl some things away from you and bring others to you, and when all else fails, just go on.
-- T. D. Jakes

Think of the other lessons that nature teaches us –

The seasons teach us to prepare for each new phase of our lives. They teach us that change is inevitable, and with every new phase of our lives, something different is required. Perhaps our summer season allows us opportunity to reveal more of ourselves, possibly sweat some stuff out of our systems. Maybe our winter season finds us coming back in or taking cover to protect ourselves from the cold and calculating moods and temperatures that sometimes surround us. Maybe our spring and fall allow us breathing periods to flow and develop gracefully into whatever is coming next.

The wind teaches us to brush ourselves off, sometimes brushing briskly for immediate clearance; other times offering gentle swishes that remind us that we are still alive and moving. It teaches us like each passing breeze, circumstances and situations pass too, but when they blow past us they can be refreshing and rehabilitating. And the breeze sometimes gives us a whiff of something pleasing and delightful.

Trees show us how to grow despite the wear and tear of the season, the foundation they stand upon, the soil they’re grown in, or the right or wrong end of the planting season. A tree teaches us to shed what’s no longer providing sustenance, and germinate more of what is productive and beautiful. Trees teach us to rest when it’s time.

Weeds teach us about endurance and strength. They confirm for us that there’s nothing too hard or too out of reach for us to penetrate and overcome. Weeds show us that even through intentional destruction, there is something we can find within ourselves that keeps us going, growing, and coming back even tougher than before, with attitude so commanding, somebody gives you a fabulous name and you become the most popular whatever that ever walked this earth.

Look around you today and notice what nature is trying to show you. Nature replenishes and heals itself. So must you.

Sadiqqa © 2007