WINTER'S MESSAGE

As I sat yesterday looking out at a cold and white wintery day in Dallas when staying inside was encouraged yet again, I recalled there was a time that I stubbornly resisted listening to the healing and rejuvenating power of Winter. 

No longer do I resist the lessons of the Native American Medicine Wheel for it has become a revered teacher and guide for my life journey.

The lessons of Winter have been the most difficult for me to teach to others who have come to me for guidance and inspiration. I understand that resistance because I did the same in the spring and autumn of my years.

The Medicine Wheel is a roadmap and each point on the wheel represents a point on our journey. There are lessons we must learn, feelings we must feel, and tasks we must do to grow and change.

So, since Mother Nature has “forced” many of us indoors this month, and has provided us with an opportunity to be still, to go within, to reflect and perhaps to hear that wee small voice of the Great Spirit that guides and guards us, I decided to take this opportunity to share my knowledge, awareness and understanding of WINTER’S MESSAGE. Perhaps it will be helpful to you as you continue your life’s journey.

The color for this direction is white. The Spirit of Courage, the Spirit of Wisdom dwells in the North. This is the direction of the completion of the life cycle; therefore, the teachings about old age, the elders, and the ability to finish what we begin, realizing how everything fits together. Out of these teachings come instruction and guidance on how to live a balanced life.

WINTER is a time to be still, to look for ideas to bring about change in our life. WINTER is a time to go within, to rest and to be still.

WINTER is a time to reflect.

WINTER is a time for things to sleep, to hibernate, to die.

Because nature has a cycle that includes the dying of things in Winter so that there can be the growth of things in Spring, we are reminded that we too must allow endings in order for there to be new beginnings. Winter teaches us about the need for grief and the importance of feeling sadness rather than resisting it for grief is a “moving on” feeling. Sadness is our way of honoring that which mattered to us that is now gone. If we do not grieve that which has died we will stay stuck in the past and we will not grow.

There are many new seeds buried under the snow, and in the spring they will sprout through the white crust of winter’s snow. We, too, will emerge from even the deepest of our own personal “winters” with new and beautiful growth.

Just remember that that growth cannot happen until something has died.

Regardless the length of our Winter, which can sometimes seem endless, the Spring always comes.  Nature is constant in its cycles and teaches us to trust the process, to have faith, and to embrace each and every moment for they are sacred indeed.

Professionally, I have realized that so many of us resist “WINTER” because we do not as a culture, like to Be Still!  Many of us feel guilty if we are not busy and doing something. Many of us feel very uncomfortable when still and quiet. We resist going within, we resist one of the greatest teachings: BE STILL AND YOU WILL KNOW.

What is it we are afraid to know?  To feel?  To hear?  Why is the Journey Inward the most challenging journey of all?   Are we that afraid to know and to be with ourselves in silence and reflection, and if so, why? What are we afraid to look at or to face?

Silence is Golden because we need the silence to rejuvenate ourselves and nurture our souls. We need silence to hear that “still, small voice” that helps us in crisis. We need silence so we briefly can experience what the world might have sounded like before we wired it for artificial sound.

I am happy to say that the day came when I stopped resisting Winters in my life’s journey. It was maybe 20 years ago now and probably the time of my greatest personal tragedy and loss and of my greatest personal growth. I allowed endings to happen more gracefully; I decided to be still so that I could hear messages from my Heart and from my Body and from my Soul; I learned the power of being present; and I stopped running from myself and from realities that I did not want to accept.

Most importantly my Faith, the foundation and core of the Wheel of Life, was solidified. I now know that when I come out of hibernation I am renewed, rejuvenated, and balanced.  Today, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that the beautiful sprout of green will always come through the deepest snows of Winter and there will always, always be Spring once again.

I invite you to listen to the lessons Nature’s Winter storm here in Dallas, has provided us all if we will just be open to it.  Stay well and joyful and never lose your North for without it you will be lost and incomplete.  Namaste, Molly