Ah, spring. The harbinger of all things good. The warm weather this past week has been wonderful. Of course, because this is Iowa, everyone is talking about the weather. How unusual it is. Marveling over the novelty of shirt sleeves in the evening in the “middle of February.” People smile. The college students in Iowa City are sitting outside, running around in shorts, zipping around on their mopeds.
But we know, or at least seriously suspect, that it is all a tease. That more “winter” is around the corner. In fact, a bit of snow is predicted for the wee hours of Saturday morning. So this last week or so could be considered as a “false start” to spring.
This taste of spring is a lot like the many false starts we humans make on various projects – whether it is home improvement (organizing, getting rid of, fixing, improving, etc.) or self improvement (diet, exercise, organization, money management, time management, etc.). It seems to be human nature to start and become side tracked on our “projects.” It also seems to be human nature to lament, scold ourselves, and/or make excuses for the lack of progress or success.
I have made references to my clients in the past. I currently work with a prison diversion program. (Bear with me – this does connect.) Sometimes one of my clients is not successful in the program and does become incarcerated in Iowa’s prison system. The Judge who is part of our team has a very positive take on these folk. She says even when she has to sentence someone to prison for continued violations and criminal activity, she does not consider it a failure. She states that the individual had successes along the way. While he or she was still part of the community he was “giving back” in the way of employment, fines paid, community service completed and skills learned.
This is a good attitude to have toward our own efforts and sometimes less than stellar successes on the various improvements we work toward in life. No matter how many times we begin to make a change and get stuck, we have gained each and every time. We have learned something. We have experienced success. We have had the courage to try once again. We all know the light bulb, telephone and penicillin did not happen at the 1st attempt. So, if you are disappointed because you did not stick with something, take a moment to reflect on what you did experience and gain at the time. Focus on that feeling. Tell yourself if you “felt” it once, you can surely feel it again.
After all, we all know spring will happen in a few weeks or a month. It always does.
On an entirely different subject. I will miss Marianne Bern, as I know all of us will. I worked for Marianne as a student at Cornell and also for a few summers after graduation during the various camps and conclaves Cornell hosted. This was long before I was affiliated with Temple Judah. What a delight when I met Marianne a second time in the TJ community! I will miss her smile, her humor, her grace. May her memory be a blessing.
Shalom,
Nancy
President