Cottonwood seed - summer snow

 As I was walking along a forest path a couple of days ago, I saw an amazing thing.  It was snowing – in July!  White puffy flakes were falling from the sky, while the sun was shining! 

 On the ground, was a layer of white.  Of course, it was cottonwood seed time and instead of snow flakes, the sky and the ground was full of cotton wood seeds.

I noticed something interesting about the way the seeds were falling to the earth.  In the sheltered areas, the seeds gently floated to the ground.  But in the open areas, the seeds were blown in every direction by the wind.

I thought of how little control the cottonwood seeds had as to what their final destination was going to be.  I looked at the seeds all around me.  Some landed in the river beside the path and were drowned.  Some landed on the gravel pathway, where they were wasted.  Some landed in the trees.  Some were lucky enough to land on fertile ground, where they could germinate and become what they were meant to be – new cottonwood trees.

The cottonwood tree takes into account that most of its seeds will be wasted and creates millions of seeds.

Then I thought about people and how many of them are just like the cottonwood seeds.  They are being blown about by every wind or influence that comes into their lives.  They have no sense of direction or purpose and seem to fall into their lives by accident.  The big difference between us and the cottonwood tree, is that we only have one life to live.

Look at your own life.  Are you living the life that you thought you would?  Did you purposefully choose to do what you are doing now?

Fortunately for us, unlike the cottonwood seed, if we don’t like where we’ve landed, we can move and change.  We don’t have to stay in stressful situations and suffer problems with our health, relationships and finances.

If you would like help getting stress relief,  out of a bad situation or finding a new direction, I can help you!

Who am I and why would you want to listen to me?

My name is Sheryl Stanton. I’m a registered nurse, stress relief specialist, speaker and trainer.  I’m the author of three stress-relief books and DVD sets.  In May, I was chosen to receive the “Woman of Worth” Health and Wellness Award for 2010.

But more important, I am a Stress Conqueror.  I know what it is like to suffer from unrelieved stress.  I got sick with a stress-related illness that put me in bed for three months.  Western medicine could do nothing to help me and I was told that I would have to accept a limited lifestyle at the age of 45. 

This was not something I was willing to do.  I  studied Complementary Health and Energy Healing for eight years.  I got my health back!  More important, I got my life back!  And I learned what to do to make sure it never happens again.  Now, I share that information with others. 

If you are ready to make a change in your life, I can help you.  You can reach me through my website: www.SherylStanton.com, by email at stressrelief@shaw.ca or by phone at (604) 302 6374.