A Season for Everything?
by Leonard Roos

I bet you never thought of it in this way, but it is true.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a season for everything:

A time to be born and a time to die
A time to plant and a time to harvest
A time to kill and a time to heal
A time to destroy and a time to rebuilt
A time to cry and a time to laugh
A time to grieve and a time to dance
A time to scatter and a time to gather
A time to lose and a time to find
A time to keep and a time to throw away
A time to be born and a time to die
A time to tear and a time to repair
A time to speak up and a time to be quiet
A time to hate and a time to love
A time to make war and a time to make peace

As you're reading here you may think, "a time for hate?" Yes,
there is even a season when it would be acceptable to be angry
or feel hate. For example if someone close to you, a parent or
a child is brutally killed, you may experience feelings of anger
and hate towards the perpetrator.

These feelings would come involuntary, in other words whether
you want to feel that way or not, and it wouldn't be wrong to
feel like that for a while. However it would be wrong to further
stoke these feelings or to actively entertain thoughts of
revenge.

The right thing to do in such a situation would be to acknowledge
that you have these feelings, which are byproducts of the crime.
You also need to recognize that it is acceptable to feel that way
ONLY for a season and not for the rest of your life.

After a period of time the anger and hate has to be replaced by
forgiveness and acceptance, because anger and hate represents a
certain season. If one holds on to it for too long, one remains
in the past and doesn't progress. We need to leave the past
behind and move on.

Life is dynamic and has many facets as the different seasons
prove. Every season we go through is different from all others
and is meant to help us grow. Just look at the trees. During
winter and autumn their leaves are brown and dry, but during
spring and summer they are vibrant and in full bloom.

The seasons of winter and autumn helps the trees get rid of old
leaves and branches in preparation for spring and summer when
they will grow new leaves and branches. They will then become as
good as new. As long as the old leaves and branches remain, there
will not be room for the new, limiting any growth.

This is the same for us as human beings. We also go through
seasons. Every time and season we go through in our lives
prepares us for the next season.

The ultimate purpose of the different seasons in one's life is
growth. Growth in terms of knowledge, experience and capacity,
both physically and spiritually. However for those who don't
experience the full cycle of the four seasons there is
unfortunately no growth.

I don't know what season you are going through in your personal
life. However most people I know are in their winter season,
which is the season where the leaves are dry and brown. When you
ask someone who is in the middle of his personal winter, how he
is doing, he might reply with something like, "not too bad."

In contrast someone who is in his spring or summer season will
reply with something like, "excellent" or "couldn't be better."

If you don't get rid of your dry leaves during your autumn season
there will not be a spring and or summer season for you.
Unfortunately this is the situation for many people who remain in
one season all their lives, and hence never experiences the
freedom and renewal which comes from letting go of the past.

When you think of the periods in your life as seasons, i.e. as
part of a cycle, it becomes easier to manage the conditions
and circumstances associated with that season. Because you see
it for what it is, a necessary yet temporary part of life which
will soon pass.

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Leonard Roos has touched and helped change the lives of
many through his coaching. For more revealing insights, visit
his website http://www.hot-articles.com or subscribe to his
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