(originally published April 8th, 2006)

I know it’s officially been spring for a few weeks now, and where I live it’s still fairly cold (we even had snow this week), but it’s only now that I’m starting to feel as though spring has finally arrived. There’s just something about seeing the grass actually starting to grow and more blue skies and less snowflakes than usual.

Spring candy
Nick Kenrick via Compfight

Metaphorically, spring denotes another beginning, another opportunity to see the beauty and wonder of things that actually already exist, yet we always marvel again at. When the flowers bloom and we take in their fragrance, the reality is that those same flowers were there last year, doing the same exact thing, and in some circumstances have been there for many years, doing the same thing over and over. Yet, we look at it with awe and wonder every single year.

It’s an interesting dichotomy for how many people view their own lives. It may not necessarily be seasonal, but it sometimes seems that every single day is the exact same, and we get into a routine of boredom that just drives us nuts. Yet, I like to say that every single day is another chance to start again, to change parts of your life to be what you’d like them to be, while remaining the same person you’ve always been if that’s what you choose to be.

And therein lies the difference between humans and everything else. Whereas flowers and animals and plants may come back each year and awe us with their sameness, each of us has the opportunity to not only break out of our doldrums to become something better, but if we so choose we can actually change everything about ourselves.

We can make ourselves healthier and smarter and prettier and wealthier and anything else you might think of. We don’t have to rely on seasonal changes either; we can do it any day, any time we so choose. All it takes is some faith in our own abilities and some respect of our own talents, and a little bit of “want” power. Sometimes it may take talking to someone else or working with someone else, but it all begins with you.

How’s that for a spring time thought?