First Day of Spring

Omar Aftab

While we already see the signs of winter ending, spring doesn’t officially begin until March 20th. The first day of January is technically the start of the year, but the true signifier of change and passage of time is with the seasons. The days of gray skies and brisk air are coming to an end and being replaced by warmth and life. Trees are getting their leaves back, flowers are budding, birds and butterflies are making their return.

That being said, the spring equinox is really just another day of the year. If nobody told you about it, you wouldn’t know when it was. The trees don’t become green again, flowers don’t spring, and birds don’t fly back in a day. Neither does pollen fill the air, the weather become muggy, or mosquitos start swarming. Change is gradual.

If you’re not working towards improvement, you’ve lost sight of your original goals, and you’re spending every day simply surviving, get to work. Maybe you’ve fallen off your new years resolution and have returned to aimlessness. If you’re not careful, before you know it, you’ll find yourself in a hot, humid place surrounded by mosquitos and suffering from allergies. But the good news is that there is no season of planting or season of harvest. The sooner you decide to make a long-term change in habits, the sooner you can reap the benefits of your hard work.

On the other hand it might be that you’ve been working hard but your long-term goals haven’t panned out the way you imagined. Your progress is slower than you expected and you’re not seeing the results. Let the first day of spring remind you that time is passing and that the results of the seeds you plant don’t sprout in a day, or even a week. Keep on watering them and be patient. There is no official sign that you’ve made it. As long as you keep on working towards them, a day will come where you look around and realize spring has arrived.