By Donna Lee Humble

In the wake of the New Year 2023, we may be spinning from unanticipated family bedlam, feeling weary, financially stressed or humbled by the excess weight registering on the scale resulting from the constant barrage of overindulgences.

Winter signals a time of struggle. Plants go dormant. Animals migrate or hibernate, and try as we might to fight it, we tend to move like we’re in a sea of molasses. Aligning with the rhythm of nature perfectly, we experience more darkness, cold and inactivity during winter. The very air seems to fill with the heavy unhurried and deliberate energy of resourcefulness, introspection and deep reflection.

And every year most of us resist this necessary period of inner grounding. Winter’s darkness may have us questioning our strength, obscuring our imagination and dulling our self-esteem.

What if we could be a rose for an entire winter?

A rose only knows she is a rose. She never questions. “Why fight nature?” she declares.

Imagine the rose’s essence. She focuses only on this instant, laced with a rich opportunity to align with the calm that comes with complete certainty. Imagine a miraculous world where she is not forcing every action but is moved from within to act through sheer inspiration. A world beyond seeming chaos where she knows all is well and knows she is loved beyond her wildest dreams. Imagine her world where fearing emotion is a thing of the past, allowing emotion to bubble up and pass through like a magic carpet.

Imagine a world where there is no lack as she receives and gives love to everyone, unconstrained by wavering self-worth or the propensity to judge others. She simply radiates freely with steadfast confidence, grounded in inner light and unspeakable peace.

As humans it takes great wisdom to look beyond the identity we assume on Earth. How do we separate who we are from what we do? Our whole lives are geared toward doing and becoming more, in: how we look, how smart we are, our relationship to gravity, how much money we generate, even our state of physical health seems to define us while walking this Earth.

This is an enigmatic realization. The reality is, we, like the rose, are already truly brilliant, infallible and perfectly innocent in spite of thoughts to the contrary. Each one of us.

Winter is merely an opportunity. An opportunity to reignite this knowing. A wonderful opportunity to unearth this truth while rediscovering our beautiful higher selves all over again.

We simply cannot win, competing against ourselves to become something we are not. The bottom line is that real joy lies in the knowledge that we are perfect, whole and complete just as we are.

The rose doesn’t look outside herself, and just like the rose you need nothing, you need DO nothing to prove your completeness. Therein lies peace, happiness and the security in knowing your true magnificence.