There’s a Japanese legend that says: if you feel like you’re losing everything, remember, trees lose their leaves every year, yet they still stand tall and wait for better days to come.  There is truly always a bright side, no matter how difficult it may be to see it from the present vantage point.  Even if we think we have a generally positive mindset, there are still things we can work on to keep positive about future events that we are anticipating.  I’ve truthfully been expecting a particular outcome on a situation for a while and I’ve struggled to maintain patience and hope around it.  All of the “signs” tell me that this is real and that it’s coming, but it seems the goal post is moved further and further back each month.  Then I fall into a cycle of depression and not advancing because I’m simply exhausted getting my hopes up, feeling close, and then falling short.  I think we all need this reminder that even when things feel like they aren’t progressing, there are still other things happening in the background.

I know I don’t want to spend my days feeling like everything is falling through my hands like sand while I run around trying to catch every piece as it slides through my fingers.  There is much to be grateful for and, in those moments of chaotic uncertainty, it may simply be time to stop.  See, maybe the sand isn’t something we are mean to hold onto—maybe it is something we are meant to leave behind, the parts of us that may not serve.  We are meant to flow and the ocean moves the sand constantly.  So too must we learn to adapt to the pull of where we are at.  So, it isn’t about controlling and catching everything—it’s about creating our own roots and finding malleability in the changes. As I wait for my leaves to come back, I can take heart that the roots I planted will keep me standing in the wind.  I know the leaves will always return, and while I may not always be able to determine what color they are, I know I am protected, and will flourish, and bloom in my time, in my own way.  I know the same is true for all of you as well.