Today I will celebrate Palm Sunday, Jesus’ glorious ride into Jerusalem, the day that Christians express our deep grief, and at the same time, our great hope as we move into Holy Week. Hosanna!
Hope itself is the belief that something better is coming. Its very definition implies that to have hope, there must be suffering or despair to overcome. It requires the one who is suffering to make a choice between despairing in today’s pain and grief, and hoping for the better day that is coming.
Last night I read a beautiful story about the butterfly that depicts the strength found in our challenges and the power of hope . . .
While walking in the park, a child came upon a cocoon that obviously had a butterfly struggling to get out. The child felt sorry for the butterfly, and decided to help break it free from the cocoon. As she watched the newly freed butterfly, expecting it to take flight, she noticed that its body was withered, and its shriveled wings were not strong enough to lift itself off the branch. You see, with all goodness and kindness, the child did not realize that the butterfly’s ability to fly comes from the strength that is built during the struggle to free itself from the cocoon.
Just as it is true with the butterfly, it is also true for people. Without the struggle, we cannot grow stronger. We cannot always choose the condition of our adversities, but we can choose how we will engage in the struggle. By confronting our obstacles, we sustain hope in the knowledge that we will emerge stronger than we were when we began. Sometimes it is the struggle that we need in our life.
Today I will celebrate adversity and hope. If God allowed me to go through life without any obstacles, I would be crippled, never able to fly on my own with the confidence and grace found in the beautiful butterfly.
Today, through the grace of God’s hope, I commit to a life without fear. I will confront all obstacles, and have hope that I can overcome them. Through His love, I will find hope and the strength to spread my wings and fly.
Beautiful message, Stacy -- and a powerful healing attitude.
ReplyDeleteHaving been through breast cancer, and almost 20 years of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, I can identify with your struggle to sleep and rest vs. wanting to be "productive". It is still an on-going issue for me! Reframing is key. You are YOU because of WHO you are, not just WHAT you do/accomplish (you have already accomplished much more than the average person in one lifetime! Kudos!). We are human beings, not human doings! YOU are being "productive" by writing this blog, engaging and sharing your journey with your friends and visitors, and spending whatever time you need in sleep, and nurturing yourself in whatever ways feel/seem healing to YOU in each moment of every day! You can be "productive" just praying for all those causes in which you believe, even if you can't physically attend certain functions or give of your time and physical presence as you once did.
Writing and journaling is still a key part of my own day to day "attitude of gratitude" and optimism. As is yoga and meditation. Even on days I cannot do a whole yoga set, I can still stretch, breathe in deeply love and healing, and breathe out fear and negativity for a few minutes, or throughout the day as I need it. And I can do that while in BED, in between "naps"! Maybe I'm STILL in the cocoon doing all this, but there ARE days, hours, moments when I am the soaring butterfly, too!
I've learned to "accept" limitations without feeling like I'm "giving up" or "giving in" -- that was the tough part for me. Walking that fine line between "surrendering" to the process without feeling like I was "giving in" to the illness/disease. I often felt alone in processing this distinction, and some others seemed to want to encourage me to "not give in", when I was just trying to explain that it seemed important to me at the time to allow some measure of "surrender". This may not be making much sense - to you or any of your readers, but it was a key part of my healing process, so I thought I would TRY to articulate it and share! I hope it is helpful on some level.
I am sending you love and light to accompany you through this very personal journey of dis-covering the depths of your soul. In doing so, you will garner healing strength for facing each new day!
Wish I could come to LR to see you! But I am sending you good vibes from North Carolina every day! Love you, girl!
Ginny