WoW by CHAR: Identify Your Season

What one develops in hibernation will blossom in Spring

illustration of woman ice skating in a Winter wonderland, March 2022. (Designed by Chardonnay Beaver// The Facts Newspaper).

By Chardonnay Beaver

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, hibernation is “the action of wintering, or passing the winter, esp. in some suitable place or condition.”

Since elementary school, I’ve admired the patterns of nature. Nature's capacity to properly prepare for the seasons to come is fascinating.

According to Sheena Lee Faherty, “hibernation is a necessity, a survival tactic for making it through the harsh winter months, when dwindling food and water reserves threaten survival,” she said. The characteristics of animals during hibernation are primarily impacted by body temperature and metabolism.

Although animals hibernate in a way specific to their development, I would argue that humans hibernate as well.

Winter, in my opinion, is not the most wonderful time of year. Winter is the only season that occurs twice – in the beginning and concluding months of each year. Trees stand dormant and the sun rarely shines.

Despite all of the grim Winter weather may bring, Winter serves a purpose. The preparation we set during the Winter months establishes us for the seasons to come.

Our generation loves the extraordinary and despises the mundane. However, the most extraordinary circumstances occur because of the accumulation of mundane practices. Rather than disregarding the mundane tasks in our lives, we have the chance to begin and conclude each year with proper preparations.

What we properly prepare for in hibernation has the chance to blossom into something extraordinary.

Words of Wisdom by Char of the Week: What we do when no one is watching – the skills one develops, the routines they build, the patterns we seize– will impact our positionality. Embrace hibernation by properly preparing for the seasons that will come. Matthew 6:4.