The Formosa Azaleas in my garden are convinced that it’s spring.  I imagine that the gorgeous lavender blooms of my favorite shrub are what Ponce de Leon must have seen when he first named the place “Florida”.  In any event, I don’t recall ever admiring  their spring flowers while raking last year’s hickory leaves!  It seems absurd.

The calendar, however, tells me that we’re only in the third week of January.  Can that be right?  This situation offers a very visual image of the world we’re living in today; time seems compressed and things happen faster than we remember.  Technology continues to accelerate and business cycles gyrate, while the World becomes steadily “flatter” and “smaller” before our eyes.  Not to mention that our children grow up when we blink and birthdays seem to roll around faster than ever.

One reaction to all of these changes is to worry that something is wrong, that the natural order of things is confused.  But I suspect that isn’t the case. We’re just living through a series of natural cycles, while observing our world at a moment in time. If we’re not careful, however, it’s easy to miss the magic of the moment.

Never mind that I thought I was “ahead of schedule” in my own work early in 2013, with budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, business planning and related matters well under way.   But my azaleas tell me that’s not the case and there is no time to waste.  I get the message.

At the same time, there’s another observation I can offer.  That’s to Enjoy the Moment when it presents itself, as the azaleas have chosen to present their annual gift in January this year.  The blooms never last very long; you never know when these unique and unexpected moments are going to come, or when you’ll be able to enjoy the next one.  So as we fast forward into spring, enjoy the azaleas; summer will be here before you know it!