Winter

Walking through the Melbourne Botanic Gardens today there was a beauty in the barrenness. Few people were out; cold and damp underfoot; the trees bare. Yet there was something therapeutic and restful about it. The vegetation on its own holidays from its busy seasons of spring and summer.

As I reflected on this I realised that trees cannot force growth. They have their growth seasons and their barren seasons. In winter they simply experience a dormancy that is exactly what nature intended.

All of us experience the winter seasons. Previous business growth slows; our children move out of home; financial upheaval; an illness takes us into a space we have not been before; the death of a loved one; the loss of someone special . Sometimes we create our own winters, sometimes they come in from left field.

If you are in a winter season do as the trees do. Relax in the current state of play. Just as trees must adapt in order to survive the change of season so too we need to adapt - to slow down and to cease from incessant and stress building activity. It's a time of being kind to yourself and to your loved ones. Build up staff morale; do some reflective and personal development work; look at your overall business efficiencies while exploring new and creative opportunities - all the time being aware that sometimes, winter must takes its course.

We cannot force growth but we do take heart - spring is just around the corner.