Changing of the Seasons

In nature and in our lives the seasons change. Some bring warmth while others bring chills. Others are a sign of detachment followed by the birth of something new. The commencement of a season provides the opportunity to reflect on all that you experienced and the ways in which you grew. As life transitions from one phase to another, it’s important to consider the impact of the past few months, weeks, or years had on the person you’ve become. Only with reflection could you move forward with clarity and intention to love deeper, heal old wounds, and grow stronger more resilient for the next chapter.

Aligning With Seasons

The seasons bring different feelings, lessons, purposes, and versions of the life you live. Reflection is a tool to develop insight to all that has occurred, providing you the chance to develop mental strength for whatever may lie ahead. The circumstances aren’t what you control, but the attitudes, intentions, awareness, and preparation are all in your hands.

Unpredictability will cause you to be thrown off whatever path you’re walking. Distractions will pull you into unnecessary detours without warning or remorse. People will have demands with unrealistic expectations of you. The environments you find yourself in will dictate how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and where your energy is going. Walking into a new season of your life without a grounding force to what truly matters will allow you to sway back and forth to other people’s agendas.

Setting an intention is the anchor keeping you rooted in the main focus. If you decide the upcoming season is one of service then you’ll anchor yourself into giving, listening, and being there for those who need you most. On the other end, you’ll release what keeps you from serving your higher self and the community that needs you. You’ll begin creating clear boundaries of what does and does not serve your main thing.

There are also seasons that hit you hard, the unexpected season of pain, turmoil and hardship. Even this season deserves an anchor, keeping you aware of what is most important at that time. Perhaps it’s an anchor of awareness, patience, forgiveness, compassion, or love for yourself. Whatever season you are in the middle of or about to enter, consider the person you are walking into it and how you wish to feel walking out the other side.

How to Set Intentions

Life will present you with struggles, seasons of suffering, challenges so deep you’ll doubt your capability of surviving. It’s not enough to bring awareness to the season you’re in or the feelings you’re experiencing as a result. It’s not enough to believe “this too shall pass”, and passively accept the roadblocks presented in your life. It’s not enough to wish for change without showing up with the tools to take action. There is a time to feel the emotions and a time to root yourself back into the vision you have for your life. There is a time for observation and time for the conscious choice to create change.

Applying any habit, thought, choice or behavior into your life is always easy when things are going well. However, it’s still just as essential, if not more so, during the challenging times. An intention is meant to align with how purposeful, conscious, and impactful you wish to be. Whether you choose to set intentions for moon phases, seasonal changes, monthly changes, or yearly changes-you can apply this process. Sit down with a piece of paper divided in half: what you wish to release and what you wish to embrace.

Practice

Write down 5 things you wish to let go of that you have been carrying for many seasons or this past one. This could be attitudes, negative habits, ways of thinking, people or environments that are not bringing out the best version of who you could be. After you’ve come up with at least 5 things, write one sentence that completely expresses all that you are leaving behind.

Next, you’ll be focusing on the 5 things you wish to embrace, add, or start doing. A good way to write this out is finding the counterpart of the 5 things you are releasing. For instance, if you are going to stop being lazy then you can embrace exercise each day. Once you’ve matched what you’re saying good-bye to with what you are welcoming, it’s time to create a phrase that embodies all of the positive changes. Express gratitude over these words, say a prayer or take time to visualize what this life looks like on you, and trust it’s already on its way.

There are two important factors to this intention setting process: showing up and trusting the other half will. Writing things down on a piece of paper makes them real, but action brings them to life. Realistically you cannot expect change without showing up to make changes for yourself. Stay focused and grounded in the words you’ve written, follow that up with trusting in divine timing. Change doesn’t happen overnight because the journey is where the lessons you need to grow are waiting. The path is overflowing with exactly what you need to experience so that you may apply it later on in your life. Learn to appreciate every step, every day, every moment of this self-improvement voyage and trust that the goal is waiting on the other end.