Resilience

These days, when I pause from the computer screen to look out at the devastation that was left behind by the beautiful blanket of snow that enveloped all in site, I am reminded that often in life, something that once was beautiful leaves behind something that is not. The more the excitement and beauty, the greater the devastation, the deeper the wound.

So many slender tree trunks, I can now see, are not just bent, but broken. The snow that weighed down the branches day after day, allowing the deer to feed from the highest tips of the evergreen bushes simply grew too heavy for the branches to bear. Though rejoicing in the ability to sustain life, each was badly wounded in the process.

The recovery and clean-up will be long and difficult, but my mind also jumps to the opportunity that comes with replanting and renewal. This is the true test of resilience. How many hundreds, perhaps thousands of times in life are we asked to get back up with the same sense of motivation, hope, and renewal - no matter the depth of the wound?

And so, I view my life through this metaphor, knowing that these challenges are simply tests that I must embrace and conquer each and every time. Also realizing that if I build the trunk a little thicker, or perhaps make it more elastic, I can alleviate the suffering. But again, I question which is the way to go...elasticity or strength?