The freshness of Spring

Spring, similar to the start of a new year, brings a wonderful sense of freshness and energy. It is a time to allow the unopened buds of the months now passed to come into bloom before the inevitable ‘busy-ness’ of the lead up to another year drawing to a close.

Springtime is a unique and special season, filled with potential, colour and growth – a time to pause and reflect on how far we have come along our chosen path, providing us with the opportunity to get in touch with, and make constructive use of, the insights such reflection offers.

The attainment of success (or not) over the decades of the seasons lived to date are less significant than our active engagement with and recognition of what we have experienced and learned, thereby assisting us in making informed choices around retaining or adjusting the compass setting for the following seasons that lie ahead.

A common habit is that of constantly choosing to only look ahead, always noticing, measuring and paying attention to how much further we still have to go.  This human tendency runs the risk of resulting in a sense of perpetual dissatisfaction, feelings of failure and pressure; knocking self-belief and confidence.  A less common, yet far more helpful habit, is to take time to look back and recognise just how far we have come, allowing us to build further on what history has taught us and providing a means of lighting the most suitable choice of path ahead; re-igniting self-belief and instilling confidence.

Spring is reliable and steadfast in coming around every year, bringing with her a feeling of beauty, warmth, anticipation and hope.  As she so reliably enters into our lives again this year, having shaken off the cold and dark of the winter months, open your heart to bringing joy back into your life and embrace the opportunities that lie in the freshness of Spring.

Elise Burns-Hoffman, Personal Business Coach, Business Owner and Consultant – written for the September 2016 issue of the Bay Magazine