Spring to summer to fall to winter. Fresh flowers to warm sand to crisp leaves to glistening icicles. Easter to Independence Day to Halloween to Christmas. Mud runs to vacations to bonfires to steaming cups of hot cocoa. The cycle is unending, bringing with it valuable lessons of appreciation and humility, and each phase returns to us something reminisced and beautiful.

These changing seasons teach us to appreciate change in our lives and see it as a natural process. Just as mother nature is not constant, neither are our lives. They're full of twists and turns, highs and lows.

These changing seasons show us how to let go and wait patiently for the next best thing. As fall marks the conclusion of summer, and spring marks the end of winter, there are chapters in your life, laid out on a timeline, that are meant to be enjoyed until they pass on. The loss doesn’t have to be negative, though, for you never know what amazing things are to occur in the next chapter of your life. The best is yet to come back around.

These changing seasons remind us to maintain our childlike playfulness. With spring, it’s puddles. With summer, it's getting some sun on the beach. Autumn is for jumping in piles of colorful leaves, and winter is for snow angels and snowball fights. Each season has its challenges, but it’s remembering who we used to be, and still can be, playing around innocently amongst each of the seasons’ wonders.

These changing seasons assure us that it’s OK to be an emotional roller coaster sometimes, like the changing weather patterns that rock the earth from one season to another. Release your blizzard of strength and perseverance, let your rains of sorrow fall down, shine your warm rays upon the earth, then embrace it in a protective layer of leaves. Nature is all about change and it doesn’t hold back, so why should you?

These changing seasons remind us to be patient, plan for the worst and problem solve. Getting your car stuck in the snow or hearing trees collapse in your yard during a rainstorm can be frustrating and frightening, but they’re a true display of the power of nature and proof that we are in its mercy, not the other way around.

You might wait all year long for that pumpkin-spice-latte, or to feel the hot summer air on your skin, but as our favorite seasons come and pass, we are reminded that it’s not all about us. Things in this world need to die and begin again, for it goes on despite our wishes. It is humbling and makes us appreciate what we have while it’s around.

Every few months, these changing seasons make us see the world in a different way, helping us to stay aware of its beauty and grandeur. It’s easy to be deceived into thinking that we are the kings of this planet, but its most liberating quality is that it exists without a dictator. For none can contain it unless they let it remain free and wild.