Page 24 - Office VIBES® Winter Issue

24
This summer has been pretty much been a washout and it’s not gone unnoticed how much of an affect the bad weather has had on our colleagues and clients. Gone are their sunny dispositions and instead their moods have been as grey as the dark skies above. Every meeting starts with a gloomy conversation about the depressing forecast and how much they are missing the benefits of the glorious summer season. We can’t help but feel winter will be as about as welcome as a tax rise.
Let us introduce you to a book called Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May who encourages you to embrace the colder months. “Here is a truth about wintering:
you’ll find wisdom in your winter, and once it’s over, it’s your responsibility to pass it on. Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through.
Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but it’s crucible. Once we stop wishing it were summer, winter can be a glorious season in which the world takes on sparse beauty and even the pavement sparkles. It’s a time of reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order. Doing these deeply unfashionable things - slowing
down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting - is a radical act now, and it’s essential.”
As we near the end of the year, you may feel that you’ve entered your figurative winter both physically and mentally. Juggling too much at work and in your personal life can leave you feeling spent and in need of hibernation. By accepting winter, you can use it as a positive time to slow down, recharge and focus on some much needed self-care. The lessons of nature of rest and retreat should give you the freedom and time to reflect and learn, give yourself permission to step back and you may well find that a new you emerges next Spring.