When life lessons are painful but valuable.
I haven't blogged in a while. Sometimes life gets in the way and the things that you love to do get put on the back burner. Sometimes work and family and health and the demands of life have you running through the days, and the nights are a blur. Sometimes reality takes over and you just do the things that need to be done. It has been a busy busy time in my life and in the lives of my family. There are many things to celebrate and many things that have been challenging. I know in the end that it is all part of life and it will all work out. I know in the end, the life lessons will grow me in a way that the good times don't. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that in the end I will be better for it. Growth is hard and painful and messy, but it produces beauty and strength. I have a sign in my office that says "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have." I believe in that truth.
This weekend we worked in the yard and trimmed the rose bushes that had grown too big and were out of control. It was messy, and I got cut up by the thorns, but I couldn't help but think about how life is like that. Sometimes we need to cut the branches back, and pull the weeds, and trim the buds so that the health of the plant benefits and it is able to grow bigger and stronger and produce even more beautiful flowers. Sometimes we are going to get cut by the thorns and it is going to hurt. I feel like I am in the pruning season of cutting back and growing stronger. It hurts and it is a lot of work, but I am hopeful that in the end I will be healthier and stronger and produce even more beauty in my life and in the lives of those around me.
This weekend we also did a lot of hiking. As you know from previous blogs, I love to hike and it helps me to release the stress of life. We hiked the Campbell-Mesa trails in Flagstaff and it was a beautiful hike at the end of a wonderful day. I love the way the path winds between the trees and the lights illuminate the forest in a new way. It is so beautiful to me, and I can't help but relate the trails in a forest to the transitions of life and the roads we all traverse on the day to day. I know all of this is incredibly analytical - and I have definitely been accused of being too analytical on many occasions - but I strive to find the beauty in the everyday things that symbolize our lives. Especially when I am in seasons that are challenging. I look for the signs that I can relate to and it gives me hope.
I know there are always winding roads on the path of life - especially in times of transition. I believe change can be good and healthy, and I have faith in the fact that it will all work out for the best. I choose to find joy in the simple things and I hold fast to that joy in challenging moments and seasons of sadness or change. I am incredibly blessed and my life is amazing! But I am sensitive and I do get rattled when things don't feel right or go the way I had hoped. However, it doesn't take me long to shake off the sadness or adjust to the change and refocus on those blessings. It helps to work in the garden or go for a hike or spend time with the people that love you. I choose to live my life focused on all of the good. I choose to live my life feeling gratitude. I choose to live my life surrounded by the people that make me better and lift me up.
Life is just like that, right? A series of choices. You choose what impacts you and how you are impacted. You choose how to spend your time. You choose who to spend that time with. You choose how you impact the lives of the people around you. You choose how you see things and how you interpret them. You choose the life you want to live. You can't control what happens to you and you are at the mercy of fate. But you CAN choose how you handle what happens and how you let it handle YOU. Choose wisely my friends.
XOXO
Emily
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