There’s nothing like snuggling up indoors with a good book while the rain falls gently outside. It turns out such idyllic images actually exist. While experiencing that joy recently, I got to thinking about how much we can learn from nature.

Seasons

It’s amazing how many aspects of nature work in cycles. After night comes day. After winter comes spring. Even though we should understand this, we still have a tendency to freak out over things like a recession, even though they’ve happened before and will happen again. Accept the darkness because without it there would be no light.

Harvest

Nothing in life happens instantly. It’s like Stephen Covey often jokes about how you can’t neglect sowing wheat all summer and then “hit it hard” in the fall. You’ve got to put in early and consistent effort if you want to reap the rewards. You’ve got to stock up for the winter if you want to see yourself through hard times.

Roots

Living with no sense of grounding is like being a leaf completely subject to whatever the random winds are blowing about. Instead, we should strive to be more like trees. After taking a trip back to the house where I grew up, I was amazed to see a tree my dad planted over twenty years ago still standing firm. Even though so much around it had changed, it was still there.

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