How to Embrace the Seasons of Life
How do we embrace the seasons of life in an intentional and healthy way?
Guest Thriver, Yasmine Young shares her thoughts about experiencing the seasons of life through reporting, refining, restoring and reflecting.
We thank Yasmine for sharing her heart and thoughts with us!
The ebbs and flows of life.
The ups and downs of strife.
Seasons come and go, feeling like an eternity.
Yet before we know it, we return to normalcy.
These days, normalcy has taken on a new meaning. The last two years of COVID have taught us many things, like how to pivot and become resilient.
Just like there is Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall, we experience seasons of life.
I call them reporting, refining, restoring, and reflecting.
The season of reporting is a critical season in life.
This is the moment or moments when you become aware that something is taking place. There’s a sense of imminent change ahead. It’s scary, it’s unfamiliar, it’s daunting. Yet, there’s a desire to press in.
-
What do you report?
-
To whom are you reporting?
You report that you are wounded; you begin to seek answers for your woundedness. You admit your hurt and pain. You tell yourself, “It’s okay that I’m not okay.” In this season, journaling can be a great tool to express what’s going on in your mind and spirit.
Then there is the refining season.
This can be painful because you will see some relationships go away; you will spend a lot of time on your own sorting out your thoughts and actions. This season can bring some loneliness, but you have hope because you know your decision to change has to happen.
In this season, tap into your higher power. For me, it is God and I pray, listen to songs that uplift my soul, and I continue to write. My encouragement to you, verbally remind yourself it is a season and will not last forever.
Be encouraged! The joy of restoration is near and you are becoming stronger with each step.
Restoring requires a commitment of surrender.
You must choose to say, “No more!”
The altar of forgiveness brings about the transformation your heart and soul need for peace and tranquility. This means you are ready to:
- Accept things you cannot change,
- Face your past, and
- Let go of the emotional baggage that is holding you back.
Some tools to move you through this season are:
- Speaking affirmations to yourself to encourage you to release the pain.
- Consider an act of sacrificial forgiveness to move into the healing you deserve.
- Find your voice to reach out to the offender (if this is safe for you and the right time for that call or visit).
- Feel your power to speak your truth in love, and begin to experience your freedom.
- Sometimes the person(s) that has hurt you is no longer here, so in this case you can write them a letter, read it in the mirror out loud, and then burn it.
Our final season is reflecting.
This is a beautiful time in which you begin to understand your journey.
- You make sense of experiences that once were so pain-filled.
- You are able to see the goodness of God and all that you went through was for THIS moment.
- You will experience peace.
- You may see a significant decrease in your anxiety.
Reflection gives you a powerful tool, your voice! Knowing that you were made for a purpose despite your past, is all the hope you need to overcome life’s seasons.
Does this mean that you will go through each season and that’s it, everything is perfect and back to normal?
It sure doesn’t.
What it does mean is that you have been equipped with the tools to get stronger, to become a better version of yourself, and to know that it will pass and you will grow.
Life is similar to the process of weaving a garment.
It requires two sets of yarns to make a fabric.
In the case of healing and surviving, it requires two versions of you, past you and future you, to make present you.
-
The YOU that is strong.
-
The YOU that is confident.
-
The YOU that is whole.
Yasmine Young is a certified life coach, speaker, and currently working on her first book, called Spiritual guide to purpose and power. She is passionate about transforming the hearts of women from hurt to healed. You can connect with her at couragetoheal.me
Talk To Tambry
I am glad you have taken the time to engage with this blog. Sometimes it is helpful to process new insights that emerge. If you would appreciate brief time with a someone who understands, our Talk to Tambry offering is for you. For 30 minutes, you can receive support from Tambry who is a certified life coach, spiritual director and a survivor who has been on the journey as well. This is offered at a reduced rate of $50.
