Sessions International

Sessions with the Farmer’s Wife:
Conventional Wisdom for Contemporary Life

January 2, 1991:  Colder and snowing when we got up. -4°. We got about 4 inches of snow. Rest of day was clear and it did warm up some.  Had Jim, Karla and boys over for noon meal and we discussed salaries, etc.  I dressed in snowsuit and walked 1 mile.  – Leona, Personal Journal

The Winter of your life has been around for a while now and this morning, you wake up only to find it’s colder than yesterday and there’s 4 more inches of snow piled on your already frozen field.  It’s one of those experiences when you think it can’t get any worse…and then it does.  How will you ever accomplish anything when everything seems to go against you?  Should you go back to bed, pull the quilt over your head and hope you sleep until it’s over?  Not at all!  Remember we’re embracing Winter and gaining wisdom about living life better during this season.  If you go back to bed, you’ll miss out on the “rest of day was clear and it did warm up some.”  Besides, although the ground is too cold and hard to plant seeds, success is launched in winter.

New Year’s comes in the dead of winter, encouraging contemplation and resolutions.  This is the perfect moment to pour a cup of tea, grab a notebook and pen, and find a quiet, comfortable place to think.  In the farming days, we would sit down at the kitchen table (furnished with Norwegian cookies and Tropical Punch Kool-Aid) to discuss what decisions we made last year, which ones worked, which ones didn’t, what new options are available, what old ideas we’re going back to….hours worth of discussions, including, as Leona’s journal mentions, salaries and finances.  The immobilizing sub-zero weather outside had no effect on what was happening on the inside where it was safe, warm and full of deliberations and expectations of returning life.  Brainstorming was at full throttle!

These dialogues included several categories, all of which are applicable to contemporary life.  They are:
        1. Reflect
        2. Evaluate
        3. Investigate
        4. Plan
        5. Prepare

The next few blogs will walk through each of these topics, assisting this season of contemplation that New Year’s brings.  Gaining insight and making beneficial, efficient, healthy resolutions and plans are our goals.  It’s a good thing winter is long because we’re going to need some time to do this well.  After all, launching success is what winter is all about.

Grain of Truth: Cookies and Kool-Aid are perfect partners with New Year’s and Winter to plan for the future!