Life Happens in Seasons: Sometimes MESSY ONES but ALL Equally Beneficial and Necessary

Dear Young People,

This week the MUSE is LIFE. Life in general. Nothing too specific or pointed, just LIFE. The journey of life is undoubtedly one of the most challenging and taxing experiences that a human being will ever undergo but yet still one of the most rewarding and exhilerating. It’s unhinged and untethered and just wildly chaotic. One moment we think we’ve figured it out and then the next we’re staring at the wall contemplating it all.?

Some may dissuade you while some may persuade you but let it be known that this experience called life is surely no walk in the park. It’s fleeting, temporal and mysterious and simultaneously full of bliss, optimism and opportunity. We all approach it differently and rightfully so because there’s truly no set way to LIVE. We’re all figuring it out as we go along and trying to be our best selves for the most part.

One thing I’ve observed about life is that it happens in seasons and no one season is quite like the other. Every day we evolve a little (or at least we should) so undoubtedly last year’s low will not be identical to this year’s. Nevertheless, everything isn’t indefinitely ‘peaches and creams’ or ‘rainbows and gumdrops’ nor should it be. There are some seasons where we feel exuberant and triumphant and others where all we can muster is the strength to maintain autopilot without doing too much but just enough to keep our heads above the waters.

Ironically, we tend to $hit on those seasons where we may not feel like our best selves but conversely, they end up being the catalysts and reality checks that we need. If life was a perfect picture daily, we’d be the most ungrateful species living (and oftentimes we are). Messy seasons reveal the parts of ourselves that we thought were mended; the parts we’ve laid aside for later. They mirror back to us the things we ought to deal with that we’ve just been avoiding and casting aside as irrelevant.

Wherever we go, there we are. We can’t avoid our true selves or our feelings for long. We can never escape from the reality that is the SELF. Whether you stall an issue now or ten days out, it will always be right there on the sidelines waiting for you to address it head on. Avoidance of ourselves is a lie that we attempt to sell in order to sleep better at night and feel as though we’re invincible but we aren’t.

While life can throw us some curveballs that make us question our own existence, we ought not to let them wound or impale us to the point where we no longer see the sense in progressing forward. Believe you me, I’ve had my own share of messy seasons and still have them to this very day. However, there’s no feeling greater than the triumph and resolve that you experience when we lay low, do the inner work and emerge as a better and stronger version of yourself. It’s hard and strenuous work but it’s absolutely essential, worthwhile and gratifying.?

Some seasons last for a few weeks or a couple months and sometimes they may last for some years depending on what it is you’re overcoming within yourself and your immediate environment. Regardless of the duration, the greatest piece of advice that I can render to anyone would be to stick it out, be gentle with yourself and take the time to work through whatever it is. Don’t be too quick to come up with a host of easy solutions. A bandage doesn’t heal every sore. Great wounds require considerable time and a vested indulgence in self care and healing to truly heal over time. More importantly, healing isn’t linear either so expect highs and lows. Applying a plaster today is equivalent to saying ‘I’ll deal with you later.’

PSA: If the burden is too magnanimous for you to carry on your lonesome, you don’t have to do so nor should you. Find support in family and friends and when that isn’t available or safe, seek out the professional help that you may need to process those complex emotions and intrusive thoughts. We aren’t meant to do life on our own.

Moreover, appreciate the ‘weighty’ and heavy seasons just as much as you bask in the splendour of the spring seasons that bring new meaning and purpose into your life. Life is worth living when we truly decide to live it, and part of living a good life is learning to navigate and bounce back from difficult $hit. The rain falls on the good, the bad and the indifferent; rich or poor; healthy or sick. We’ve all got issues to solve! There’s no escaping them at all. Better to do the necessary here and now and keep it pushing . Sooner or later you’re gonna have to address them either way.

As we head into this new week, don’t be afraid to confront yourself and your life head on. Live life; don’t let it live you. Oftentimes we create these monstrous constructs in our head that cause our deceleration when we don’t have to. Stick to your guns and know that you’re always worth it. Everything is happening for your good not to harm you.

Wishing you all a solid week! Don’t forget to share with a friend and a friend of a friend if you found this article insightful.

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Remember to share with a friend and a friend of a friend :)

See you next week!

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