Right now, in the northern hemisphere, we're in the height of summer! With summer comes long hours of daylight, outdoor social gatherings and beautiful blooming flowers.
One day last month as I took an impromptu walk in a local park, a home to a quaint duck pond and beautiful massive trees. I stopped to look at a rose bush, a very common occurrence for me. When I looked at the cluster of blooms ranging from a new bud, to full bloom, to fading petals I saw the life process in a whole new way.
The life cycle of a flower has often been equated to that of life in general-- and in particular, to that of a woman’s life.
In her youth, she is a bud and blossoms into a brilliant flower. Then, her beauty fades as time wears on. What I saw in that rosebush gave me a whole new perspective on aging and transformed my thinking of the linear cycle of a flower (and a woman) into a regenerative cycle that I could see on the bush and feel within my own body, heart and soul.
Rather than looking at an individual flower and seeing a linear cycle of bud, blossom, and fade, I looked at the bush as a whole. What I saw was that as one flower was fading another was at full bloom and yet another was just beginning to bud: a regenerative cycle.
This is true for us as humans, too.
As I embark on this new phase of life, rather than experiencing a fading of my youth I can feel a powerful internal shift as the showy brilliant colors of youth are being replaced with an inner glow streaked with silver, emerging from within my own being.
My internal sense of wholeness is built on a foundation of the lessons and experience of my life thus far and is stronger and more grounded with confidence and self worth than I ever was in my youth.
After receiving this simple and seemingly straightforward message from the rosebush, I've been able to shift from believing that I am losing something and striving unsuccessfully to return to a body that is 20 years younger (which hadn't yet given life to another human being!).
Instead, I have begun to embrace the change that is on the horizon.
I know that my mind and heart have matured greatly in the past 20 years, which I appreciate and welcome. Now I have the opportunity to extend that appreciation and gratitude to my body as well.
I believe that many of us struggle with the sense of loss as we age, change jobs, shift our relationships.
Consider that as we release one aspect of our lives, space is being created for something new, more connected and grounded in your authentic self.
Need more guidance? Try asking yourself these:
4 important questions you can ask yourself as you move through a transition of any kind:
What is something that helped me in the past but that I no longer need? What can I release?
What past lessons and experiences can I draw on to support me now? What do I want to hold on to?
What could I say to remind myself I am growing more into myself everyday?
What can I do to honor and express gratitude to where I am right now and where I am going?
When our personal cycles are seen as regenerative rather than linear, we can focus on growth and exploration.
We experience changes as stepping stones to our stronger and more vibrant selves.
Not sure where to start as you consider your own regenerative cycles?