“Gratitude is the capacity to stare doubt, loss, chaos and despair right in the eye and say, ‘I am still here.’” ~Diana Butler Bass
When standing in the middle of one of life’s storms, still finding room for gratitude allows us to claim our survival in the face of whatever confronts us. Where are you finding space for gratitude right now?
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“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.” ~Amit Ray
Our brains tend to tightly latch onto the pain of loss in the changes life brings our way. It’s a natural part of survival instinct to focus on this part of our experience, but it’s only a part of what’s actually happening in every change we face.
Just like autumn’s falling leaves, change also brings beauty and new beginnings along with it. We just need to work a little harder to make sure we notice and pay attention to those truths since our brains are less likely to do that for us.
When you take the time to look, where can you find beauty and new beginnings hiding in whatever changes are happening in your life right now? What would it take to intentionally focus on those to counter-balance your brain’s natural tendency to focus on pain and loss?
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May we let go, and grow bright as stars in a clear, frosty night, the more we are stripped of what we thought we could not do without. ~Br. David Steindl-Rast
When facing the crushing heartache of loss, we can choose to let go with grace and thereby find a silver lining as we are stripped bare to shine with all our natural glory.
“No one likes the process of pruning and the pain of loss, but fruit only grows on new wood.” ~Leonard Sweet
I hate letting go of things or relationships or dreams … or just about anything else. Loss is painful and scary.
But I’ve also noticed that after I allow myself to prune that which is no longer helpful in my life and let go of what needs to be released, I inevitably find more space for growth and new opportunities for expansion.
Seeing that pattern re-appear so consistently time after time has begun to loosen my death grip on what I currently have so I can let go with more grace and ease over time.
“Loss makes artists of us all as we weave new patterns in the fabric of our lives.” ~G.W. Crosby
I love the idea of loss making us artists. Loss is hard and painful, but imagining the recreation of a new live after loss as the work of an artist weaving a new pattern brings some comfort and inspiration to the process. We’d all rather be weaving the same of patterns we knew and loved, but if those old patterns are no longer possible, we might as well embrace our inner artists and get creative with the new patterns we weave!