,

To endure. 

To persevere.

To grow and triumph in a manner enabling you to live as you have desired and intended.

I have been thinking often about the way our biggest hopes eventually are realized as we here in Bend have been in the season of winter for five months. Now if the gardening prime-time season lasted that long, I wouldn't mind a bit, but in actuality, I think Mother Nature is trying to teach me and thus through this newsletter us something valuable. 

I ran into a couple of temporary roadblocks earlier this month, and while unwanted, they taught me a great deal. Each roadblock forced me to do something differently, to look more closely at a detail in my business (one) and another in my personal world, I have now received great benefits I had been overlooking and underappreciating with each. BUT, because I hadn't chosen to take the time of my own volition, the universe had to force me to tend to these issues. It had to put roadblocks up to shake me into awareness, to do something differently because what I was doing wasn't beneficial for the life I kept telling myself I was trying to live. 

How does Mother Nature's long dance with the winter season this year parallel with this life truth? We know that winter will eventually ebb into spring, and summer is shortly behind, so the roadblock being the lingering of winter is indeed temporary. Instead of looking at the delay of spring (for us in Bend, as I know from many TSLL readers spring is in full swing!) as a bother or a hindrance, why not look at it for what you are gaining? What is beneficial? 

More moisture for a bountiful harvest and growth. The likelihood that our plants and trees won't jump into blossoming too soon before a late frost snatches the potential summer fruit away. More time to clarify and ascertain exactly how you want your garden to look. As well, maybe the extra time will have nothing to do with gardening, but the point is, there is always an opportunity waiting to be realized if we choose to see it. 

Funnily enough, once we acquiesce to learning and applying the lesson, almost magically, the universe lessens or removes the hardship, and it is almost as if the dam has been opened and the roadblocks vanish. But in order for this breath of relief to occur, we have to realize there is something we haven't yet learned or absorbed that is necessary in order to fulfill the intention for our lives we have shared with ourselves that we seek. 

In my own situation, I didn't realize how capable I was in a particular area of managing and understanding how my blog/website functioned. I also learned a great deal about investing in what I knew intuitively was a wise financial decision even if others doubted my decision. Temporarily, there was stress and sleepless nights, but I chose (after much back and forth) to trust myself and step forward without promises. And just like that, seemingly like the click of the fingers, events unfolded following my decision that revealed I had made a savvy move. 

So, part of weathering unwanted roadblocks is having a keen awareness of yourself as well as the ability to be honest with that same person (you) in the instances where you acknowledge you need to do something differently or learn something more on whatever the topic may be. But also keep in mind that the dam will eventually break in the best possible of ways once you face the roadblock rather than avoid it. 

Now to let the dam open as it pertains to this month's newsletter! Let the perusing of March's newsletter begin! 

OH! but before you begin, one more thing: If you have been considering becoming a TOP Tier Member, the once-a-year sale on Memberships for permanent savings on all three payment options is coming up, and there is a short window to take advantage of this opportunity. Mark your calendars for Thursday April 6th-Sunday April 9th. I will NOT be posting this news on the blog, but rather ONLY sending out the special promo code to Monthly and Weekly Newsletter subcribers just before April 6th, so look for an email on the evening of April 5th. 

Thank you for choosing to subscribe to the monthly newsletter. Wishing you a wonderful Friday and upcoming weekend, and until the final day in April (Sunday), the 30th, I will see you on the blog!

—Shannon

~To explore every post you wish to read, be sure to become a member to one of the two tiers - BASIC or TOP as non-members can only read five posts a month (it will reset on the first of each month - tomorrow!).