You Can Plan A Pretty Picnic, But You Can't Predict The Weather

With every passing day, everything seems to speed up a tad. In each moment it’s not much, but if I look back a few months, the change is tremendous. Thinking of all that growth has me wondering what’s next. And I'm sure that when the answers are revealed, I'll be more surprised than I've imagined.

This Fall, I've been watching the world change around me with fresh eyes. I've known that the seasons, the environment, and even my body changes all the time but now, I'm more aware of these changes as they happen. Every morning when I look out the window above my sink, I admire the trees in my backyard. Lately, I've paid special attention because I know they will soon be bare. The leaves have turned from brilliant hues of green to reds, oranges and yellows, to the brown they are now.

Watching the change of seasons this year has grounded me; I am more aware of how much the world changes around me. Even if I feel like I'm stagnating, I can look outside and know I’m not. On walks around town in the spring and summer, I observed the bushes and trees that grew along the sidewalks; over the weeks I watched them change. I watched flowers bud, blossom, change colors, and fall to the ground. I even watched a tree bear tasty fruits called loquats (pictured below). I didn't know about them before this year... now they’re gone and oh, how I miss them.

Urban Harvest, Contributor / Urban Harvest

I've learned to appreciate the beauty of nature simply by slowing down and looking at life with new eyes. I've changed my stance on the colder months of fall and winter. In the past I haven’t looked forward to those cold months at all but now I'm embracing them. Without them, the world would be incomplete and imbalanced. Which has brought me to reading and reflecting on this next chapter of 71 Solutions.

After Reading Solution 13: Adopt the Pace of Nature, I gained clarity on my new perspective and all of Nature’s beauty. Scott points out that "humans are drawn back to nature no matter how much we try to escape it." Many inventions on the market mimic nature. Recently it seems the world has shifted and become more in tune with nature than ever. I've never seen so many natural products in my life and I'm loving it. It's almost like when I started getting more in tune with nature the entire world around me did as well... manifestation is that you?

Another point in this solution was "as much as we, as individuals, love and appreciate nature, as a society we tend to try to force nature to do what we want, when we want it." I used to wish that it would stop raining. I used to sometimes wake up and get dressed with a beautiful sunny day in my mind, wanting to walk outside, and then be completely wrong about the weather. Even Outkast said "you can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather." No matter how much planning, hoping, and praying you do, nature is going to do what it wants whether you're on board or not. With that realization, it's best to just accept things as they are.

Photo by Анна Галашева from Pexels

The action ideas section of this chapter had me contemplating ways I could "adopt nature's pace in my own life." I thought I was doing a pretty good job of adapting to nature’s pace but I found a few ways I could improve:

I could appreciate the mini-animals that find their way into my home. These critters are simply living their life the same way I'm living mine. They came inside looking for shelter and I know they felt the good energy that radiates here, so I can't blame them for visiting. I would want to hang out with me, too. So I will appreciate them from the moment I see them, to the moment I capture them in a jar and release them a good distance from my house.

I can appreciate the rainy days. I no longer wish for the rain to go away because I know that it's here for a reason. I don't believe I've witnessed a drought in my lifetime but I have heard how bad things can get when there is one. Instead of wishing for the rain to go away and come again another day, I’ll thank it for nourishing the earth around me. I now look at it as cleansing and replenishing.

Another way I could adopt nature's pace is to simply listen to nature more often. Whenever I hear birds chirping in the trees, I'll be grateful for them. When I'm driving in the car, sometimes I will ride with the windows down and listen. Hearing the sounds of the wind flowing past the windows and the street under the rotating tires is a beautiful thing that I've been taking for granted. I enjoy living in the country, away from all the noises of the city because it's easier to hear my thoughts and the whispers of the universe.

There are more ways I could adopt nature's pace but I'll leave it there. This was a very refreshing solution and I am excited to implement this into my life starting now.

What I Learned about The World

The more we, as a society, try to escape the world around us, the more we don't go anywhere. We can try to avoid the real world, including the virtual reality available, but this is our home. Everything we do is a part of the cycle of nature and we should appreciate it more.

What I Learned about Myself

I have been a hater. I've been a hater of some of the most beautiful parts of nature for the majority of my life and I didn't even know it. I didn't know how much I didn't appreciate the world until I read this chapter. I'm thankful for my now opened eyes. I also learned many ways that I can flow with nature instead of resisting.

From This Day Forward

I will be more in tune with nature. I will learn more about what's going on around me and simply flow.

Five solutions down, 66 to go.