How easy it is to forget our participatory role in life’s changes. We start our days, inundated with routine, hours scheduled and filled with minutiae when, in fact, life necessitates that we not only continue learning and growing but actively participate in the subtle changes that take place every day.

When one takes time to think about the world outside and the weather – the constantly changing weather – we honor that part of our lives that seeks growth and thrives on the unpredictable. Winter is a great time to slow down and let our bodies and minds settle into a more contemplative space.

This week as winter starts to creep in with lower temperatures and brisk winds, honor the opportunity to cultivate the gratitude and beauty that grows through a life of abundant thinking. As you look into the faces of your family and friends huddled around table feasting on delicious foods, be sure to express your willingness to continue to make efforts towards remaining engaged participants in each of your changing lives.

Each day we each make choices that can change the scope of our lives. Each day we weigh what is important against what is most wanted. In the instances where these two things become undeniably indistinguishable, we must focus efforts to nourish those concerns.

Beauty is not just what we see; it is who we are.

Each life, each dream, each tiny little miracle of coincidence that keeps us curious about the next moment and striving to uncover what the next change will be becomes our reason for living. In this way, beauty is change. Beauty is transformation and exposing life down to its foundation and using our creativity to build it back up into something new. Let beauty be your guide and steer you to accept the changes along the way as proof of life.