A transformed landscape greets me as I rise today. White blades of grasses – stiff in their frozenness – trees forming their stark silhouettes in the mist of the morning.

There’s a stillness in the air – almost as though nothing wants to stir – awake to the cold of the day – much like most of us on cold winter mornings!

My gaze travels across the open countryside drawn to the orange glow on the horizon. A fireball gradually rises – spreading around it a swathe of warm colour. As if on cue tiny birds cut across my vision – their almost erratic flight a joyous greeting to this new day.

A new day – what will it hold I wonder – for although the day may bring with it certain routines and duties – it also holds out to me many opportunities too. In a sense – today will be what I make of it.

To begin my day drinking in the beauty of nature fuels my inner self. It’s as though my focus is taken away from myself – my horizons widened – my vision clarified to see the important things in life – the true values that surround me .

As I reflect on the scene before me I recognise that the cold and frost displays a harshness too – throughout this winter season.

Winter – possibly the least favourite of the seasons for me – and yet I recognise that it has it’s purpose – a part to play – making way for the next season. It’s harshness and death make way for the life of Spring – and how I love that season!

I can choose how I begin this day – see the cold – or see beyond that to the beauty it creates – and in some ways that very choice can easily influence the whole of my day.

It seems easy to grasp the necessity and place of our natural seasons – we understand how one season follows the other – we wait and plan for one to finish and the other to end.

However – the seasons in our lives are not quite as easy to follow or understand. They do not have the same pattern to follow – are not as predictable. We may enter a winter season that seems to go on forever – getting harsher – feeling so cruel – with no guarantee that spring is just round the corner. Or – we may blithely go along enjoying a prolonged summer season – where  cares seem light. We’re happy  – relaxed – almost forgetting that this season in our lives may change – almost without warning.

One thing I try to remember- is that there is something good about each season. If I look for it I will find it and will surely find even this season will not last forever – so – I will endeavour to embrace whatever season I find myself in – and see it’s beauty – it’s purpose – and live in it to the best of my ability.