The Beauty of Limits

Winter is upon us. All that we imagined, sprouted, nurtured, grew and harvested in the previous seasons, now comes to an end. Plants and trees retreat to their roots. Wind, cold, snow and ice put a final and absolute end to all growth. Now it is time to rest.
Imagine if our expansion never ended. What if Spring and youth were forever? We would still be stuck in tenth grade and the garden would be full of weeds! Limits and endings give balance to expanding and achieving. The joy of creation and expansion can be felt when we finally expereince the finished product. We can dwell in a sense of satisfaction at the end, at the completion of expansion. Yin balancing Yang, Yang balancing Yin, in thier endless dance of birth and death.
Yin and Yang teach us that every ending is a beginning, and that every beginning is an ending. For something to start, there has to be a line marking the beginning, and that line always falls at the end of something else. So, it is in Winter. All is still, the year is “over.” Yet, within the ground are the seeds of next year – resting and incubating. The seeds of next Spring’s beginnings are held quietly in this Winter’s ending.
As soon as something is started, its ending is inevitable. Birth guarantees Death. The cycle of Yin and Yang teach us that Death must also guarantee Birth. This mysterious cycle is often easier to accept and celebrate in the Spring during birth, youth, expanding Yang. Winter offers us the opportunity to find acceptance, peace, and celebration in letting go, reducing, aging, moving on, declining into the the next beginning of every ending.