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Handle the winter. Winters seem longer than
all of the seasons. Winters come every year and
we prepare for them by changing our clothing and
our indoor temperatures. The same applies to our
lives. Tough times will come. Life is a cycle of
smooth surfing, bumps and bruises. The key is
getting a grip on things. My husband and I could
have allowed our lives to succumb to the cold of
our wintry stretch, or we could simply embrace
this lesson as a test of our character. We chose the
latter. Don’t view this season as a creative drought
or a chance to procrastinate and be lazy. Handle it
with visual designs of your desired lifestyle.
all of the seasons. Winters come every year and
we prepare for them by changing our clothing and
our indoor temperatures. The same applies to our
lives. Tough times will come. Life is a cycle of
smooth surfing, bumps and bruises. The key is
getting a grip on things. My husband and I could
have allowed our lives to succumb to the cold of
our wintry stretch, or we could simply embrace
this lesson as a test of our character. We chose the
latter. Don’t view this season as a creative drought
or a chance to procrastinate and be lazy. Handle it
with visual designs of your desired lifestyle.
Use your winters as a time of rest and renewal. Become silent and situated in a state of readiness so
your ideas and efforts can spring forth with greater fervency and results.
Plant in the spring. Spring always comes after a long winter. After a challenging winter, you will
be faced with blossoming opportunities. It is your responsibility to take full advantage of the
springs when they pop up. This is your moment to plant the seeds of greatness to come. My
husband and I took advantage of our blossoming spring. In his mid-life, my husband returned to
law school and pursued his dream. I, in turn, stepped out of my comfort zone and earned my
doctorate. Also, in addition to designing spaces, I now write programs on designing the life you
love. Use your springs to plant seeds of wisdom and spring forward. Your spring is a season where
all your ideas bud and grow. Weed out some thoughts and connect with what excites you. Allow
your springs to become the springboard to getting where you want to go.
Prepare and guard your summer. The carefree times of entertaining and enjoyment are
during the summer seasons. It’s also a time to begin reaping the benefits of your springs. But you
must keep an eye on things and never let your guard down. If you are not careful, the benefits of
your planting will be stolen, shattered, or spoiled. Of course many suggested that my husband and
I not return to college. In their opinions, it was a waste of time at this stage of our lives. One
person, using himself as an example, said he is not utilizing what he went to college for at all, but
instead is doing something totally different. This remark was designed to shatter and spoil our
dream. On the other hand, there are those who have taken my life design theme to make it their
own.
I am reminded of the ants in Proverbs 30:25 that lay up their food in the summer. These ants are
industriously preparing for winter while guarding their possessions. Learn the lesson from the
ants. Your summer cycle is your season gathering and preparing. Cultivate your ideas during this
season. Develop yourself and your projects. Engage in personal and spiritual growth so you can
stay cutting-edge and energized for the ensuing times.
Mature and reassess in the fall. This is the time where you can open yourself to learning the
lessons that the previous seasons taught you and put everything into perspective. As fall comes,
the trees change color, lose their leaves, and the weather gets cooler. This means you must gear up
for another winter. Now is the best time to take full responsibility for what happened in the
previous seasons, both the good and bad. Perhaps some old projects need to be completed in order
to make room for new projects to take root. The key to maturing is to be willing to release the old
in order to embrace the new. Allow time to think and plan for the seasons ahead. Assess what you
need to change, improve, upgrade, release or redesign.
My husband and I could not always see the ensuing winters and know what was ahead. But we
could take inventory of the unfinished projects in our lives and set goals and time-lines to
complete them. We learned that by doing so, we could be ready once more to handle another
winter that is coming, and plan for the following spring and summer.
Just as natural seasons go through stages—winter, spring, summer and fall—the creative process of
designing the life you love goes through similar seasons as well. Discovering new ideas, solutions
or creative answers is a cyclical process. Hard times will come to challenge you. But if you master
your understanding of seasons, you can be confident that strategies and solutions will come. Tune
into the Spirit of God as He reveals your own personal timings. This is the key to embracing your
life's seasons.
I would love to hear your story and how you handle your life cycles. You may email me at
dmurphy@eewmagazine.com.
your ideas and efforts can spring forth with greater fervency and results.
Plant in the spring. Spring always comes after a long winter. After a challenging winter, you will
be faced with blossoming opportunities. It is your responsibility to take full advantage of the
springs when they pop up. This is your moment to plant the seeds of greatness to come. My
husband and I took advantage of our blossoming spring. In his mid-life, my husband returned to
law school and pursued his dream. I, in turn, stepped out of my comfort zone and earned my
doctorate. Also, in addition to designing spaces, I now write programs on designing the life you
love. Use your springs to plant seeds of wisdom and spring forward. Your spring is a season where
all your ideas bud and grow. Weed out some thoughts and connect with what excites you. Allow
your springs to become the springboard to getting where you want to go.
Prepare and guard your summer. The carefree times of entertaining and enjoyment are
during the summer seasons. It’s also a time to begin reaping the benefits of your springs. But you
must keep an eye on things and never let your guard down. If you are not careful, the benefits of
your planting will be stolen, shattered, or spoiled. Of course many suggested that my husband and
I not return to college. In their opinions, it was a waste of time at this stage of our lives. One
person, using himself as an example, said he is not utilizing what he went to college for at all, but
instead is doing something totally different. This remark was designed to shatter and spoil our
dream. On the other hand, there are those who have taken my life design theme to make it their
own.
I am reminded of the ants in Proverbs 30:25 that lay up their food in the summer. These ants are
industriously preparing for winter while guarding their possessions. Learn the lesson from the
ants. Your summer cycle is your season gathering and preparing. Cultivate your ideas during this
season. Develop yourself and your projects. Engage in personal and spiritual growth so you can
stay cutting-edge and energized for the ensuing times.
Mature and reassess in the fall. This is the time where you can open yourself to learning the
lessons that the previous seasons taught you and put everything into perspective. As fall comes,
the trees change color, lose their leaves, and the weather gets cooler. This means you must gear up
for another winter. Now is the best time to take full responsibility for what happened in the
previous seasons, both the good and bad. Perhaps some old projects need to be completed in order
to make room for new projects to take root. The key to maturing is to be willing to release the old
in order to embrace the new. Allow time to think and plan for the seasons ahead. Assess what you
need to change, improve, upgrade, release or redesign.
My husband and I could not always see the ensuing winters and know what was ahead. But we
could take inventory of the unfinished projects in our lives and set goals and time-lines to
complete them. We learned that by doing so, we could be ready once more to handle another
winter that is coming, and plan for the following spring and summer.
Just as natural seasons go through stages—winter, spring, summer and fall—the creative process of
designing the life you love goes through similar seasons as well. Discovering new ideas, solutions
or creative answers is a cyclical process. Hard times will come to challenge you. But if you master
your understanding of seasons, you can be confident that strategies and solutions will come. Tune
into the Spirit of God as He reveals your own personal timings. This is the key to embracing your
life's seasons.
I would love to hear your story and how you handle your life cycles. You may email me at
dmurphy@eewmagazine.com.
Dr. Deana Murphy passionately supports the
success of women helping them to design
their best life. Creator and visionary of the
LivingDesigns™ brand, Deana is an absolute
expert on life design and your Go-to-Resource
for promoting empowering life makeovers,
whether you seek one-on-one consulting,
group trainings, virtual workshops or live
lifestyle makeover events.
Visit Dr. Deana at deanamurphyglobal.com
Email Deana:
dmurphy@eewmagazine.com
Connect on Facebook
Facebook.com
success of women helping them to design
their best life. Creator and visionary of the
LivingDesigns™ brand, Deana is an absolute
expert on life design and your Go-to-Resource
for promoting empowering life makeovers,
whether you seek one-on-one consulting,
group trainings, virtual workshops or live
lifestyle makeover events.
Visit Dr. Deana at deanamurphyglobal.com
Email Deana:
dmurphy@eewmagazine.com
Connect on Facebook
Facebook.com
EMAIL:
| Copyright © 2011-2014 EEW Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
| BI-WEEKLY COLUMNS |
Monday March 28, 2011
| EEWMAGAZINE.COM |
We desired to be closer to our church. A
four hour round-trip drive to Philly each
week had progressed into four years. Then
it finally happened. We sold our Poconos
home and moved to the Philly suburbs. The
timely relocation of my husband’s job, just
twenty-five minutes from our new place,
meant we were spared of all moving
expenses. Yes! Now the four-hour trip to
and from church narrowed to thirty minutes.
Ecstatic about how things had lined up for
us, little did we know that a cycle of setbacks
was just ahead.
four hour round-trip drive to Philly each
week had progressed into four years. Then
it finally happened. We sold our Poconos
home and moved to the Philly suburbs. The
timely relocation of my husband’s job, just
twenty-five minutes from our new place,
meant we were spared of all moving
expenses. Yes! Now the four-hour trip to
and from church narrowed to thirty minutes.
Ecstatic about how things had lined up for
us, little did we know that a cycle of setbacks
was just ahead.
It all started when my husband noticed his paycheck had substantially decreased. Oh no! There
had been an unauthorized and unfounded garnishment. We were devastated by this. Neither did
the creditor nor my husband’s employer serve notice or give him a warning. My husband felt
betrayed. This was the beginning of a winter cycle that caught us unprepared, leaving us stuck in
the cold and not knowing what to do. Suddenly one day this wisdom illuminated to my husband,
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Cor. 1:27) By this we
knew we had to renew our minds with God’s wisdom and then fight back. We did and we won. The
garnishment was, as I said, unfounded.
Thumbing through the pages of our lives I notice that like the seasonal cycles of nature—winter,
spring, summer and fall— much the same way steer the directions in our lives. The question is,
“how closely do we follow these directions?” “How can we recognize them? “How well can we
manage these life cycles in life?” What we discovered is we can design the life we love just by
understanding and embracing our creative rhythms and life cycles.
had been an unauthorized and unfounded garnishment. We were devastated by this. Neither did
the creditor nor my husband’s employer serve notice or give him a warning. My husband felt
betrayed. This was the beginning of a winter cycle that caught us unprepared, leaving us stuck in
the cold and not knowing what to do. Suddenly one day this wisdom illuminated to my husband,
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Cor. 1:27) By this we
knew we had to renew our minds with God’s wisdom and then fight back. We did and we won. The
garnishment was, as I said, unfounded.
Thumbing through the pages of our lives I notice that like the seasonal cycles of nature—winter,
spring, summer and fall— much the same way steer the directions in our lives. The question is,
“how closely do we follow these directions?” “How can we recognize them? “How well can we
manage these life cycles in life?” What we discovered is we can design the life we love just by
understanding and embracing our creative rhythms and life cycles.
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