Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Rising Rivers

Spring time in Minnesota usually means a lot of things; budding trees, snow melt, robins return, birds galore, Christmas Decorations finally put away, lake ice melting and gym memberships increase.

One other spring time event in Minnesota is flooding. This year is like every other year, rivers rise, ice jams occur, towns sandbag, water recedes, sandbags removed, and summer is here.

In my coaching business I use spring as the analogy for life preparation. It falls in line with Minnesota flooding.

During spring we all start coming out of the house hibernation. Our activity rises and more people start getting out the bikes, walking, and heading to the golf domes to practice their swing. We get prepared for the season of summer by preparing ourselves for the activities to come.

Spring is the time we also usually run into a lot of personal ice jams. Taxes are due, yearly budgets are done, you take off the oversize sweaters to notice a little more of you now than before winter - personal ice jams.

We all begin to sandbag together - people get together to plan vacations or motorcycle trips. We begin to see our friends and neighbors again and come together for a common cause - spring.

After a few weeks our personal ice jams release and we start to see the rest of the year in whole. You pay your taxes, your budgets get done, and you clean out the closet and make that commitment to your health once again.

After a few more weeks you completely remove the sandbags. Neighbors are grilling, the lawn furniture comes out, you rake the yard, and you prepare your toys for the next season.

There you have it - Summer is here, the grass starts getting green, garden is beginning to be planted, the boat is in the water, you are walking the dog and the dust is finally gone from the bike. You have made it through the personal flood season!

Flood season is part of life. It comes and goes and some years are worse than others, but eventually you make it through and leave the past behind and look forward to the summer.

As we all go through spring together take notice of your personal flood stage. Are you prepared? Is your river going to overflow? Do you have a plan in place to get you through this stage?

Be prepared, know it is normal and plan for the outcome. Your Personal rising river will appreciate the effort.

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