Spring

Spring starts today.  But as the Princeton English professor and American diplomat, Henry Van Dyke, said: "The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

That definitely is the case today as we have very cool temperatures and a steady rain.  The rain is causing the lawns to green up almost before your eyes.  So it is the first day of spring but we must wait for the first spring day.  Although, the last few days of winter around here were definitely spring like.

We humans should grasp the spirit of spring that renews nature and ask that spirit to renew our individual essence.  Spring is a beneficial season for all the plants and tree as well as the human soul.

Perseverance

     Maybe we could learn a lot from this simple yellow crocus.

     It was the anxious crocus.  It wanted to greet the spring as the first crocus to bloom.  But just as it was ready to bloom...whammo....it got hit with a cold wet snow and temperatures well below freezing.  The snow melted rapidly the next morning and revealed this rather haggard crocus.   But the crocus had perseverance.  Believe it or not on the next day, the second day after it first tried to bloom, it popped back up as a full bloom.  Maybe it was a little battered, a little worse for wear.  But, nevertheless, it laid claim to its rightful place in the late winter garden....The First Crocus to Bloom.

     As humans we should be so resilient.  We should know what our true nature or true purpose is in this world.  And when life, or more specifically friends, family, colleagues throw that unexpected  "cold wet snow" at us we should go ahead and bear the brunt.  But, after that shake it off and get back to what our essence demands us to be and let's not take two days to do it.  After all we should be more resilient than a crocus.