5 tips for adjusting to the changing seasons in our lives
CHANGING SEASONS
As I sit on my back deck, the afternoon sun moving lower, I am amazed at the change of weather from one day to the next. Last night it was hot and humid—typical for this time of year in Alabama. (It has been an extremely wet, hot summer.) But now we have a taste of fall, and I don’t want it to stop! The sky has been crystal clear blue all day. Not one single cloud. The breeze was blowing gently. It brought such peace to my soul. So how can I keep this feeling even when the hot days of summer return?
Here are 5 time tested simple tips to making the transition to a new season easier, whether or not it’s the annual seasonal changes or the kind that erupt in your life, for better or worse!
1 Change what you can change and let the rest go.
I do not handle changes well, but several years ago I got some truly life changing advice. I was in the middle of my career as the retail store manager of a Spice store, and I was having my annual review with my immediate corporate contact. I was complaining about some things that were not going the way I thought they should. He simply said “Do what you can do, change what you can change, and don’t worry about the things out of your control”. That was truly a new concept to me that forever changed the way I ran that store and my own life!
2 Stop feeling guilty when you take time to relax.
I have been married for 40 years. My husband has a much better life balance awareness than me. He taught me a very important skill that was lacking in the training I received growing up in my childhood home. He taught me to stop and take time to relax. For most of my life when I would relax, I always felt guilty. My self-worth was tied up in my performance. But I tried taking that time to truly relax, and I learned that it is a necessary skill to achieve health and wellness and balance.
3 Spend time helping other people.
There is a term called the “helper’s high”. Helping others not only helps them but helps us as well. We get a boost mentally and emotionally and physically when we take time for other people. Feel good hormones increase when we reach out beyond ourselves. It helps to understand the why behind this. I felt this article summed it up beautifully. https://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4070299/secret-to-happiness/ Stress can lead to many harmful health issues, but helping others can help to reduce the damage of that stress in your life.
4 Laughter truly is the best medicine
Take time to think of a story or experience that always makes you laugh. Share it with someone else. Watch a funny movie or pull out your own videos of funny things that have happened or events that make you smile. The benefits of laughing outweigh the risks! There are way too many benefits for me to list, but they have done a superb job of doing that here: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm
5 Take responsibility for your own decisions
Growing up in a very dysfunctional home, I had to learn certain lessons when I became an adult. One of these was the importance of taking responsibility for our own actions. In our household, no one admitted that they were wrong or asked forgiveness for poor behavior. So there was no healthy way to move forward when someone was hurt or offended. I believe a child can be taught this important skill. Thankfully, adults who never learned it can still make the necessary changes to step up and admit when they are in the wrong or when they have offended another person. It takes maturity, but it leads to much healthier relationships and less shame and blame all the way around! When you own it, you have better self esteem.