Ten Lessons Offered By Nature
 By Bradford Glass
All of us want peace, meaning and purpose as companions for our journey along life’s path. To do this, we need to discover new possibilities for understanding ourselves, our lives and our place in the world. We may not have to look any farther than our own back yard – the world of nature – for all the "lessons" we need. I find nature to be a "master teacher" in our lives, informing our path of discovery with its silent and compassionate, yet powerful, lessons. Here are ten of my favorites. Learning from nature can help us keep the context of our lives in perspective. Think about how each one might help you see your life in a new way, and help influence your choices.
Connectedness: Nothing happens in isolation. Every occurrence in nature affects something else; the mere presence of an organism changes its environment. In this sense, the world is truly one organism. How do your actions affect the lives of others? The planet? How connected (or separate) is your own existence from the rest of the universe?
Rhythm: Nature works in cycles, each with a rhythm that never ceases: birth and death, dearth and abundance, ebb and flow. It’s a natural process, where one doesn’t fight off the other to achieve an end. How well do you accept (without judgment, attachment or struggle) the natural cycles at work in your life? Can you accept the emptiness of not knowing what comes next, yet be assured that it is part of the natural flow and cycle of life?
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"Your Tern..."
"Sunset Sail" |
Balance: There are both order and chaos in nature. There are giving and receiving. The rhythms of nature produce constant change. Yet there is balance. No one state is "better" than another. "To everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven." What place does balance have in your life – work vs. play, career vs. family, self vs. other?
Resilience: Nature moves only toward what works, even in the face of stress and change. It’s the principle behind evolution. Nature does this by being diverse (no single point of weakness), dispersed (failures are localized), efficient (doing what matters, and doing it well), and renewable (assured by rhythm of cycles). Can you learn from each experience, even setbacks? Do you find change to be a teacher or a chore? Can you move with the flow of your life, or do you get stuck on "what isn’t?"
Acceptance: Nature "just is." It doesn’t have opinions; it doesn’t control; it doesn’t take things personally. It doesn’t have an attitude. Yet there is beauty, growth and peace. There are no rewards or punishments in nature, only consequences. How do you see the distinction between punishment and consequence in your life? Do you graciously accept the gift that life is?
Patience: There are no goals in nature. It just is what it is. Without goals, there is no struggle to achieve. The river doesn’t try to get to the ocean; it doesn’t try to wear down the rocks; the rocks don’t fight back, either. Water changes the shape of all it touches – without competing with it. Change happens at its own pace, whether over a period of seconds or millennia. There is no need to control; the process does the work, not the outcome. What drives your life? Is it the process of living, or the outcome you’re seeking?
Openness: There are no boundaries in nature. Nothing is inaccessible to anything else in nature. There are no walls. There are edges; there are borders, such as the shoreline between water and land, but even this is a rich source of life, uniquely adapted to its environment. Everything is "both;" there is no "either/or." Openness also allows life to flourish in the space provided. Where are your walls? What are they walling in, or out? Does your trust for life allow you to grow?
Silence: Survival in nature depends on being silent most of the time. Noise punctuates the silence, and has meaning (a mating call, a distress signal). Silence is the bearer of awareness, and the possibility of what comes next. Opportunities fill voids; without void, there’s no room for new possibilities. Thoreau said, "Silence is the communing of a conscious soul with itself." What’s the role of silence in your life? Is it an irritant, or is it a source of curiosity, respect and reverence for life, and for yourself?
Attraction: Each of nature’s many designs is an expression of infinite beauty. The delicate arc of an unfolding fern; patterns left in the sand by receding waves; the song of a loon at dawn; and even the smell of a skunk: each is beautifully rendered to serve a unique purpose. Nature gets back just what it puts out – this is the law of universal attraction. Beauty is everywhere; it is only our judgment of it that limits our ability to see. Where is the beauty in your life? What are you attracting in life, and how is it related to what you are putting into it?
Simplicity: No energy is wasted in nature; it always takes the "least energy" path. With no goals or agenda, and only a "process" to follow, the result is elegant simplicity. (The process and the "rules" are simple; the manifestations are infinitely complex, yet not at all complicated.) How would simplicity in your own life affect your energy equation? Could you become richly complex, yet completely uncomplicated?
© 2002, Bradford L. Glass
The Road Not Taken
www.RoadNotTaken.com
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