The vibrant auburn, amber, crimson, yellow and golden leaves interrupt our thoughts as we walk through parks or drive between rows of trees, reminding us we are leaving summer behind and have entered fall. A seasonal change near the end of the year and a time to evaluate and prune so we can bloom in the next season.
I’m using the American term for autumn in this bog as it fits nicely with what I want to say.
So, In the UK, the year began in lockdown, following a Christmas with restrictions and then the introductions to the vaccines jabs and the nation gradually opening up and making a move towards normality.
Indeed, we have been through a challenging season, individually, corporately, and economically.
According to Webster’s dictionary, in the past, Americans used to use both autumn and fall interchangeably in reference to the season, but then stuck to ‘fall’ as they associated it with the falling of leaves.
The trees go through their seasons of budding blooming and shedding their leaves to prepare for the new season.
This fall is significant to me. I see it as a time to process the things that brought me stress, anxiety and fear in the previous season, evaluate lesson learned to take into the next and allow the negatives things to fall off my life and mind, like dead leaves. We evaluate and prune so we can bloom!
Dead Leaves Are Not For the Future
Dead leaves, as pretty as they look, do not serve trees in their next season. Imagine what a tree would look like if, in its summer bloom, it’s arrayed with a hybrid of fall and summer leaves. It would be odd to our senses and take something away from what we enjoy about the summer foliage.
In the same way, bringing unprocessed emotions from the last season into the new one will be an overload that interferes with our efforts to move forward with new things, and possibly cause delays. So fall is a good time to take stock of our emotions and assess what needs to stay and what needs to go.
Healthy Mental Cleansing
There are a few ways we can evaluate the last season during fall that could help us develop healthy minds that enable us to enter and bloom in the next season, freed from the old leaves. Here’s a few of my thoughts:
How you see the challenges of the last season
It’s prudent to preserve your natural God given ability to see and process a challenge outside the influence of others. At least, do this first and be open and honest with yourself and the assessment process. A few years ago, I developed a habit of being honest with myself, as it is the only way I could affect change and this doesn’t make me an immediate expert, but it helps me to see things as they really are. I’m not talking about loathing my faults, but assessing situations that may be challenging or contentious and honestly seeing where I could have responded better and work towards a change that is within my control.
I have lived long enough to see what self-deceit does to people, and I want to choose to do things differently. We have all been in social settings where, for various reasons, we’ve felt the need to put on a facade, but it is important to not continue with the facade long after the party’s over. Learning to be honest with yourself makes this process easier than if you’re accustomed to hiding from yourself.
If you’re a Christian, it’s a good time to invite the Holy Spirit into the process and ask Him to help you see truth. He is the Spirit of truth and one of His functions is to lead us into all truths. Also, journalling your thoughts and what you want for the next season is very helpful as it gives you something to aim for.
Working with what you can control
The global pandemic brought with it a lot of negative events that were out of our control, which included the coronavirus infections, isolation, hospitalisation and, for some, losing loved ones. These are all things outside our control.
Some of us, because of Covid restrictions, could not be with our loved ones when they needed us the most, or visit loved ones at their homes, hospices, the hospital, or attend their funerals when they passed away.
We can’t blame ourselves and carry that guilt, as this was not a decision we chose out of selfish reasons. It was a law legally imposed on us for the safety of others.
Journaling thoughts arising from a mental anguish over what we could not control, and allowing ourselves time to grieve, is a great way forward. Afterwards, we can then release ourselves from any guilt or negative thoughts.
Remunerating on these thoughts over a long period adds nothing positive to it, but it can erode our health and wellbeing, and that is not something our loved ones would want for us.
Dealing with what you can control
You are in control of what you do next and you have the rest of your family and future to take into the next season.
I mentioned earlier about self evaluation and bringing positive lessons learned into the new season. We should waste no trial. There would be positive things that came out of the last season that will help fuel the next season. It will all depend on what you choose to see.
If you’re looking for positive things from the last season, you will find them. Process your thoughts and journal them, as you may forget them if you don’t. Journalling may also reveal a road map into your next season. So, allow your thoughts and ideas to flow and write them down.
Talk to a few trusted friends
Once you’ve processed and journaled your thoughts, share them with a few trusted friends that you know will give you honest feedback. If you are a Christian, they can be friends who you do Church life with. Talking with others can help with your thought process and perspective.
They are not deciding for you, but are like a sounding board that helps with the clarity of your thoughts, which you can weigh up against what you’ve already had in writing. If you’ve been in a dark place, the process would reveal if your thoughts are a bit off.
Pray
Perhaps your next step is to take a step of faith to enhance your career prospect by training, starting a new business or develop that new idea that has been stewing in your head for so long. It may be something that your friends may not identify with because they can’t see your vision. Don’t give up, pray about it and let the creator of the Universe fill you with courage and stir up the creative abilities already innate inside you.
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
– Matthew 19:26
How to deal with Blasts from the Past
So you’ve processed outcomes from the past season, done your journaling, prayed, spoken to friends and considered what you can and can’t change. You’re getting on with your plans and out of the blue, something triggers negative memories you’ve left behind and they all coming flooding back, threatening to overwhelm, take you on a guilt trip and sink your ship. What do you do?
This is where you need to stand courageous. Once you’ve done all you can to enable you to stand, you just continue to stand confidently in God, as a Christian, and with courage in the processing mechanism you’ve used. You can revisit your journaled thoughts and also speak to your trusted friends. Keep your vision in front of you.
Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write the vision
And engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets
So that the one who reads it will run.
“For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time
It hurries toward the goal [of fulfilment]; it will not fail.
Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it,
Because it will certainly come; it will not delay.
– Habakkuk 2:2-3 (AMP)
In Summary
Processing negative situations is a way of telling your brain that you have dealt with that issue and there is no need for it to continue to resurface in your mind. Keeping your vision for the future in front of you is a way of telling your brain that you’re done with the past and ready for the next thing.
This brings fresh hope to invigorate you to focus on the next season.
“The dogs of doom stand at the door to destiny. When you hear them barking, you know you’re near your promised land.”
– Chris Vallotton.
Let the voice of hope in you speak louder than the barking of the dogs of doom and soon their barks will recede and you’ll hear a different and more pleasant sound that draws you into your future!
Joanne Sojinu, Author,
A Mother’ Prayers, Week By Week Devotional for your Unborn Child.
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