September Gazette: Accepting Seasons There is sadness in watching somebody cry and frantically searching for words in effort to comfort them. But there is greater sadness when you have to watch somebody hurt and you know that any amount of words- even the best ones- will have little influence merely because the individual is merely discovering their own lesson. That’s the sadness I felt as I sat there awkwardly. And helpless. I watched her cry like a seven-year-old leaving her new friends at camp. But this wasn’t camp- this was two months of serious spiritual and emotional growth. This summer, I traveled throughout Costa Rica with a group of thirty high school and college students. We did everything together. Everything. It seemed annoying at first, but by the end of the trip, the idea of sleeping in my own room and not sharing meals in a loud group of thirty teenagers seemed ridiculous. None of us thought at first that we could adapt to each other but by the end of the trip, we couldn’t imagine not having each other. This scenario I am describing, with one of the high school students within my small group, was common the night before we left the country. Many students became emotional at the thought of leaving our new home. And this wasn’t camp. This was a whole summer- challenging our typical lifestyle, adapting, growing, struggling, and striving together. We weren’t friends- we had become a family. I felt a sincere empathy for this young girl as she continued to wipe tears from her young eyes and as I remained frustrated by my helplessness. I can remember many moments in my past that I couldn’t see past the – now seemingly minor, although not insignificant – heart break. Examples include when I had to get rid of my favorite cat when I was six, when my family moved in fourth grade, and even my high school graduation – only last year- was difficult to allow myself to see the possibility of having peace in the midst of such drastic changes. “It’s just a season,” I said. That was my attempt at finding words to comfort. “Life is full of them.” I rolled my eyes at myself thinking I probably sounded patronizing and the awkward existing I was doing before was probably the better choice. But I really hurt for her and I wish there had been more I could’ve done. It’s taken a lot of examples to allow me to be flexible with change but at the end of this trip, I had enough examples to move forward with optimism. It doesn’t mean it’s easy to let go. There is simply just a peace in knowing that often there is no other choice. But that one choice of letting go does result in good. We commonly mistake it for negative but the best thing about seasons is that they are temporary. Rough times don’t exist forever. And we can peacefully let go of happy times knowing that we’re put in certain peoples’ lives and for a certain amount of time for a reason that we will know someday after. Letting go means starting a new journey, taking new
