Everyone Knows

Standing on the same spot

The carpet warm against my toes

I wondered

  What is next?

    Where is ‘next’ hidden?

Voices from everywhere

In print

 At the coffeeshop

  On the bus

   On the radio

Everywhere.

Everyone knows 

 what could be next

   where ‘next’ could be hidden.

Caring and good advice from everyone

~ to be resilient is to listen and choose.

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, 

and add what is specifically your own.”

~ Bruce Lee

Tendrils

Yesteryear’s experiences expand into memories

~ pictures with feelings ~

     being excited

       maybe a little bit scared.

Reminders that with 

     each experience

        each first day

came a tendril of growth inside.

Experiences full of angst and fear

planted a weakness that felt like it 

   would never heal

     would always rip open.

All from the laughter and tears from 

    all of yesteryear

      all of today

birthed growing resiliency of mind and spirit.

“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”

~ Mary Tyler Moore

In the Midst ~ 1

Creating zones of comfort

in the midst of stormy weather

(emotional, political, financial or the real thing) ~

a real challenge to our resiliency

feet planted firmly on 

  a narrow, 

    slippery wet board

muscles unused to being planted firmly ~ never knowing when the next wave or wind will

gulp us down deep into watery currents without any life jacket.

Creating zones of comfort

before the storms of life or of weather

builds resiliency felt most strongly in stormy weather

staying always where our feet are planted firmly

strengthening muscles of heart, mind and body

always ready for the next wave or wind

that threatens diving deeper than we want to go

family, friends and new ideas are the life jackets that can save us from drowning.

“People drown, quietly, before our eyes, all the time.”

~ Ilsa J. Bic

Mirror, Mirror

Never forgetting who comes first challenges me 

when I look in the mirror, I see my all too mature face gazing at me solemnly, knowing 

the roads we’ve travelled,

people that shared our paths,

resiliency learned along the way, and knowing we’re about to travel a new road, my youthful heart bravely knows for sure that I’ll always know who comes first.

“Things which matter most must never be

 at the mercy of things which matter least.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Skin of A Heart

Easing into one’s own skin 

is seldom a simple task for 

the skin of a heart 

constricted and puckered 

by rigid expectations leaving little room for resiliency.

When roughened and scarred by being brutally kicked through life, there is room only for survival.

Rest, recuperation and kindness

~ softeners for dry and leathery souls

open doors to gradual growth and recovery.

“What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence.”

~ Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol.4

Crumbs and Squiggles

Regina, Saskatchewan - Wascana Lake

Items that are only crumbs of language

~ letters, dots and dashes ~

craft messages that

 weave warm, scary or funny stories 

  recount history’s tales of struggle and survival

   take futuristic flight into the unknown

    shout headlines in virtual and real newspapers

Crumbs and squiggles that are crafted into

  honest truisms, 

    fantastical fiction or 

     descriptions of land and sea

All, and so much more, tell of humanity’s resiliency to survive.

“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

Allowances

Lasting friendships that build bouquets of bright energy

allow comfy safe zones.

Safe zones of protection

from structured work worlds

when resiliency has stiffened.

Lasting friendships that build

these hammocks that hold us

allow us to relax and smile.

“If you have good friends, no matter how much 

life is sucking, they can make you laugh.”

~ P.C.Cast & Kristin Cast