Spring is a time of renewal – and whether you look to nature, the arts or sports, it’s a time to get

inspired and re-energized in your personal and professional  life.  If you watched the Masters

Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, it was a reminder that a new generation is always ready to

take the lead.  In this case, Texan Jordan Spieth won his first green jacket at the age of 21, while golf’s

most experienced pros were unable to close his lead.  Tiger Woods, who still holds the title of youngest

winner by a few months (set just after turning 21 back in 1997), put in his best game this year since 2011.  Tiger’s on-going recovery

from serious injuries is raising speculation he might finally regain his old form again to replicate Jack Nicklaus’ long career, which

was capped with a final Masters win at age 46.

 

In another sporting rite of spring, there’s also a new generation of thoroughbreds getting ready to test

each other in the Triple Crown.  Just last year it was a west coast horse named California Chrome with

owners from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who excited the country by winning the Derby and Preakness

decisively before finally getting beaten at the Belmont.   Yet “America’s Horse”  came back to win Horse of the Year

honors and the unofficial title of “America’s Horse”.   This year American Pharoah arrives at Churchill Downs in Kentucky as a

possible favorite, fresh  off an 8 length lead in the $1 million Arkansas Derby.  The Run for the Roses takes place on May 2.

 

While springtime rituals in sports give us the reminder to use this time of year to recharge physically and

mentally, we can look to poets and nature for inspiration as well.  As writer Flora Richards-Gustafson observed,

“Poets like Walt Whitman, Amy Lowell and Robert Burns use lilac blossoms as a seasonal symbol for

ongoing hope and renewal.”  So find your favorite symbol of spring, from seasonal sports to poetry – or

maybe just smell the flowers– and get inspired!

 

 

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