Four Timeless Thoughts on the Most Optimistic of Seasons

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.”
Doug Larson

“An optimist is the human personification of spring.”
Susan J. Bissonette

Spring is finally here in Sweden. Well, kinda. I guess it’s more of a feeling of spring in the way that Doug Larson so awesomely points out in the quote above.

But still. After an unusually long and very cold winter it’s great to have some warmth, a few birds singing and see more smiling and enthusiastic faces as you walk the streets.

So I thought I’d share a few of my favorite sayings about spring that can help us to make this year the best one yet.

Make decisions at the right time.

“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”
Robert H. Schuller

I think this is a very good tip and something I wish I had thought about a few times in the past. When you are in the low time or a bad mood you can’t really see reality in an accurate way. Making important or negative decisions when you are in that headspace isn’t a good idea.

Nowadays I have a learned to just be still and wait out those angry clouds. Even if it feels like there is an urgent decision to be made (which isn’t always the case even though your clouded mind may fool you into believing that).

Then, when the mind is clearer it becomes a lot easier to make a good decision.

Be consistent to get some real results.

“One swallow does not make a spring, nor does one fine day.”
Aristole

To live a happier life and make a real change you can’t just take action or do things on a day when you feel inspired. Sure, the spring may give you a boost of energy and inspiration right now.

But what will you do with that? Just surf on those good feelings for a day or a week? Or let it be a start to consistently taken action each day, even if that inspiration and initial enthusiasm may dissipate (which it pretty much always does)?

To take action more consistently here are a two of my absolute favorite tips:

  • Use a morning ritual. I have mentioned this many times, both in my e-books and in various articles. The reason for that is that this is perhaps the most powerful tip I have found so far in this area. You simply set up a ritual in the morning that you do as soon as you wake up. This works so well because what you do early in the day often sets the context for your day. As humans we have a strong tendency to want to be consistent with what we have done before. That’s one big reason why a bad start often leads to a bad day and a good start often leads to a good day.
  • Don’t hurt yourself. This is a very important reason for me. When you disappoint yourself and don’t think and do as you really deep down want to you hurt yourself by lowering your self esteem. Whatever you do during your day sends signals back to yourself about what kind of person you are. Do the right thing like being effective, kind or go to the gym and you feel good. Get lazy, negative or just plain mean and you tend to feel worse after a while. You don’t get away, there is no escaping yourself. And there is always a price to pay. This is a powerful motivator to become a better person.

Keep going.

“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”
Hal Borland

Persistence might not exactly be the sexiest sounding quality. It might not sell a lot of products to people looking for the magic pill. But it is an immensely helpful quality to cultivate and put to use.

If you fail, what do you do? You dust yourself off, learn what you can from what happened and try again. If the success you are looking for won’t come that quickly – a pretty likely scenario – then you have to persist.

Persistence is one of the most useful qualities one can have. Not only because you will still be out there in a less competitive playing field as a lot of other people have given up and gone home. But also because developing persistence will enable you to get what you want. It may just take a little longer than had hoped for. But if you keep going, if you refine your approach based on what you learn from experience and other sources then better times will come.

Winter makes the spring so much better.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
Anne Bradstreet

The winter of life is often in retrospect a gift. It makes you stronger. More empathetic and understanding. It helps you out in some way and guides you. You can always look back at it when you feel down and be happy that you aren’t in that place anymore.

Your winter and adversities expands the spectrum of human experience, understanding and emotions for you. Your capacity for genuine gratitude increases because of it.

The sad times make the happy times even sweeter.

Free Exclusive Happiness Tips

Subscribe to The Positivity Newsletter and get weekly tips on happiness, self-esteem and plenty more.

You’ll also get three free guides on how to stop being lazy, what to do when life sucks and 21 things I wish they’d taught me in school.

100% privacy and no spam. You can unsubscribe anytime.

About the Author

Henrik Edberg is the creator of the Positivity Blog and has written weekly articles here since 2006. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Gothenburg and has been featured on Lifehacker, HuffPost and Paulo Coelho’s blog. Click here to learn more…

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Anonymous

    True, keep going and find more Happiness! by the way here is something worth sharing.. pure form of happiness..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiu9PcEyQ5Y

  • As a child of the Spring, it’s my favourite time of the year, bar none. Spring heralds all that is to come including a spark of happiness and optimism. We just need to ensure we allow and blend with this vibe and come alive just as nature is. Wishing everyone a spring in your step and all over your face!

  • I couldn’t agree more! While Spring provides that initial push toward getting us motivated to achieve, it’s important to establish a routine to continue the momentum once the thrill of Spring’s beginning diminishes.

  • That was a wonderful article . Good ans bad days are vital in life because good days gives us pleasant memories and bad days leaves behind a good lesson to learn. I have to agree to all you said above!

  • I never thought “winter blues” was a real thing till I spent one winter in the snow. Boy was I glad to see when the sun came out more often and spring came around.

    I’ll take sun over snow any time.

  • Henrik – oh how I love Spring. Warmer weather, longer days, better mood, it seems like I’ve got this newfound vitality. And so I have coincidentally been doing just what you said to act consistently. I set an alarm in the morning and the first thing I do upon waking is read – blogs, books, positive psych articles, anything I want.

    It most certainly shapes my day. And since there is a community of so many truly inspiring and refreshing blogs and usually move through my day enlightened. This has been a BIG helper.

    Couldn’t agree more about the bad giving context to the good. If utopia existed I don’t think I would choose to live in it. There is nothing more delicious to a starving person than the first bight of a mouth watering meal and a person who has never cried cannot truly appreciate sublime happiness.

    Can’t always have the warm days of Spring – although it would be nice to live in San Diego

    Cheers!

  • I have learned to never make any serious decisions until I have restored my inner balance. Springtime is here as well, the grass is getting green, and the bulbs have sprung up from the ground.

  • awesome blog bro. It is almost spring! I am excited to keep my life rolling in positive places and manifesting the reality that I most desire.

  • The quotes and your thoughts are so so inspiring which match the mood of spring. It’s the time of the year to make good decisions because the mind is clearer. We don’t need to be disheartened by frustrations . We just need some patience and perseverance. No need to hurry.
    Hope more are whistling while patiently soaring for their hopes.

  • I am really odd in that I really love winter and the slower pace of it. That could just be me looking for the positive in it all.

    Awesome blog, glad that I found it.

  • Henrik,

    Just found you man. Love the great feeling here!
    I love all of the quotes you included, but the one that speaks of making decisions at the right time resonated with me most….so true, but that wisdom we need most at that time so often eludes us in the heat of the moment.

    great post!…thank you.

  • Thank you for sharing all those thoughts and insights, guys! :)

  • I really liked this post…very good rules to live by, ones that I need to keep in mind more often. Great job!