The dry season is known to be a time when the soil, atmosphere, and sky are devoid of rainfall or moisture. It is a time when the grass loses its bold green colour, the flower’s broad coloured petals shrink into oblivion, and the tree’s long, strong branches breaks into shreds. Even the soil that holds these plants in place seems to give up on these plants due to how hard and uncompromising it becomes. It is quite simply the most challenging time in the life of a fully-fledged plant.
This situation certainly pushes plants to their limits, with only the strongest surviving the period. But amid the difficulty, the inconvenience and the constraints is a golden lesson the dry season teaches these plants and nature in general. They are lessons that once the plants and their farmers learn to understand, they would welcome each dry season in their lives with equal excitement as they would for the rainy season.
The first lesson the dry season teaches is the need to rest. Like plants, we can’t be producing, bearing fruits and working all the time. There should be a time when we do the simplest thing ever; nothing. A period of doing nothing should not be mistaken as a period of idleness. Instead, it is a period when we tell ourselves that we have earned a brief moment of relaxation for how hard we have worked over some time. It also offers a moment where we just sit back and appreciate how far we have come and how more we need to go. We can hardly do this while we are in motion, focusing solely on productivity.
Also, the dry season draws our minds to the changeability of life. As much as we can be green, bold and fruitful, we can equally be brown, dull and fruitless. So while we are enjoying the comfort and luxury that comes with being in a good moment, we should also guard ourselves against being overly confident and overlooking the fact that time is not ours to determine or control. We may not necessarily want that upon ourselves, but life through its machinations serves them to us anyway. It is up to us to embrace that current state and find ways of surviving and living beyond those dry seasons.
Similarly, the dry season reminds us of the need to plan for the future. Life’s unpredictability means that the only certainty we can afford is that of the present moment. As such, we ought to use it as a weapon that will help us fight upcoming battles in the future. This includes saving as much of our earnings, signing on to insurance plans, and investing in profitable ventures. Another equally important thing to do is making and keeping healthy relationships. These relationships often give us shoulders to cry on and people to count on when times get hard. As such, it is often said that you ought to treat the people you meet while you are climbing up with utmost respect. That is because they are the same people you would encounter when coming down.
From another perspective, the dry season offers us the chance to shed away old ways and habits in anticipation of something new. During a dry season, plants often lose either some or all of their productive parts. That is because their old and weary parts cannot serve their purposes in the new season on the horizon. As such, they have to cut it off and grow new ones before a new season arrives. In essence, a time of idleness and stagnation should push us towards working on ourselves and improving before embracing the next available opportunity.
Ultimately, the dry season draws our mind towards preserving even amid adversity. Nothing can be as unsettling as losing something you were once proud to have. Nothing is more upsetting seeing a life you once enjoyed unravel before your eyes. But in the midst of all that, we have to give ourselves a fighting chance. Like the plant, we ought to keep our roots grounded. We must be grounded in what we believe and grounded in our God-given abilities. We must always trust that the tree in us will grow fruits again if we hold on and walk through the dryness.
Therefore, the next time life feeds you with a dry season, see it is an opportunity and not a risk. Find that lesson it seeks to give and learn as much as you can from it. But most importantly, never decide to give up because like all other seasons, the dry season will pass when its time is due. Happy New Year!
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