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Winter Is for Endings. Spring Is for Beginnings.
- Shanelle Koroma
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
When we hear the words New Year, we often think of resolutions. We imagine a fresh start filled with new habits, new goals, and a burst of motivation. But that isn’t usually what happens. More often, the beginning of the year is a season of endings.
Endings come before new things—including resolutions—because there simply isn’t room for the new until something old has been cleared away. Relationships shift. Priorities change. Habits fall away. Sometimes things we once relied on no longer fit who we are becoming.
I hope you made it through your endings.
Endings can be difficult. They displace what was once comfortable and replace it with the unknown. We may have ideas about what’s next, but rarely any real assurance about how those new things will unfold.
As you move through this season, here are a few reflections to hold onto.
Your Body
Your body is constantly changing—mentally, physically, emotionally, and physiologically.
You may not be the same person you were a year ago. Maybe your energy has shifted. Maybe you received unexpected news from a doctor. Maybe you’re navigating hormonal changes, stress, or simply the natural process of aging.
This body is aging, and that isn’t something to fight against—it’s something to make space for.
Consider what it means to do less of some things and more of others. To listen more carefully to your body’s needs. To adjust your pace with compassion instead of resistance. Growth requires honoring where you are today.
Change
Change feels uncomfortable, especially when it happens quickly.But the truth is, many of us only respond to change when something reaches a crisis point. When the things we’ve been doing stop working, we finally feel the push to shift.
What if we embraced change sooner?
Better four days of change than forty years of staying stuck.
Most of my growth has come through radical shifts—just like the seasons. Winter doesn’t gradually negotiate with spring. One day the cold holds everything still, and the next, life begins pushing through the soil.
From cold to blooming.
Choices
Life offers us countless choices—some small, some life-altering. We can stand in the grocery aisle debating between twenty brands of toilet paper, yet struggle deeply when it comes to the decisions that shape our lives.
Free will is both beautiful and challenging.
When you face major choices, slow down. Pray. Meditate. Sit quietly before deciding. Seek wisdom from people who truly know you.
This is why having a tribe matters.
I’m grateful for friends who understand my values and goals so well that their advice reflects the life I am trying to build.
And be mindful about where you receive information. Social media, trends, even artificial intelligence cannot know the details of your life the way you and your community do.
Stay grounded. Seek wisdom. Pray for clarity.
Preparedness
Spring is coming. And spring can be intense after a long winter.
Life gets busy. Opportunities multiply. Growth begins everywhere—but so do weeds.
What are your weeds? Gossip. Disorganization. Relationships that drain rather than nourish you.
Spring also brings storms. And when storms come, anything weak, neglected, or poorly rooted will fall.
So this is the season to strengthen your foundation.
Root yourself deeply so that when the winds arrive, you can bend without breaking.
A Blessing for the Season Ahead
May the rains of spring nourish you.
May they wash away what no longer serves you and awaken something new within your spirit.
Let us say goodbye to the old with gratitude and make room for what is growing.
Here’s to the new year…
Or perhaps more honestly,
Here’s to spring.
Stay rooted,
Shanelle
Shanelle Koroma is a licensed clinical social worker, nature play therapist, and co-founder of Ujima Retreat Center
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