We’ve had a couple of good days with beautiful weather recently. The skies have been blue, the breeze has been warm, and birds and squirrels have been chattering away. Snow, in our corner of the world at least, is becoming spring snow. (Yes there is a difference between winter and spring snow. It’s to do with the moister content, density, and crust.) It’s just the start of the transition of the season, there will be more winter weather in store I’m sure of it, but you can feel spring is hot on winter’s heals.
You can see it in nature but you can also see it in kids. Mine always love being outside but they are dying for the sun now too. They are going out with less clothes on and soaking up any rays they can find. They also are more in tune to breaking up their habits and being more productive and more relaxed in their play. Let me explain, a few weeks ago and throughout winter truly, they would have followed the same routine. Get all dressed up to play outside, go to the garage, get the same toy they’ve played with the day before (and the day before that) and play in the same way they always do. Now, on the early spring days, they want to walk back to the field and check out how the snow is melting. They find ‘comfy’ spots in the snow to recline and feel the sun on their face. Try new tricks and build jumps, forts, and set up courses that will take them through the best mud puddles on their bikes. I came outside yesterday to Daddy recording a jump off of a large piece of plywood that nearly caused my biggest guy to go over the handle bars. I just smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Set a goal, come up with a plan, and push the boundaries kid. You might break your arm but Daddy is there and ready to get you to the ER. (That’s the kind of mostly supportive little bit of snark mom I am.)
I can feel it too. Not only am I excited for the things I’ve been working toward all winter but now I’m thinking about gardens where will have the best sun? What should I plant this year? Should I have more than one? How many fruit trees do I need and how far apart should they be? Will they support the honey bee population in my area? I can’t wait to forage for fiddle heads! What else I can find this spring to harvest right off of the land? I can also feel a renewed power in the goals I had set. That race that I had signed up for and ‘forgot’ to train? Well you can bet I now think I can set a personal record on my time. The trip I have been waiting for with my husband? I absolutely was online looking at options.
This is one of my favorite times of year. Make it one of your favorite times too. It is a reset from January where we have more energy, more excitement, and more daylight, literally. (Who decided that right around the darkest day of the year was the best time for starting a new endeavor anyway?) So I challenge you to do an assessment right now of your own intentions. What goals have fallen by the wayside? What passions that you’ve done nothing with (either by force or by choice) have started rolling around in your head again? What is tugging at your attention right now that you’ve been trying to push out of your brain? Write that down. Then, put in your schedule.
This is the time for setting intentions, forcing yourself to take hold of a big dream, or starting something new. This is the time for brushing off whatever chains were holding you back. Remind yourself of all of your passions and run toward them with a strategy and renewed focus. This is the time make the time for you and step into what you can, and deserve to do.