Fall is my favorite time of the year but Spring comes in at a close second. Some of the things I love about Spring are:

1. Waking up and NOT having to put on winter tights. Yeah.
2. Opening up the shade to greet the morning sun AND the window in the bedroom, first thing, without freezing. Love it.
3. Hearing the melodic morning doves, followed an hour or so later by the rev and vroom of men and their power tools. Birds are singing and the neighborhood is humming with outdoor projects. Happens every spring. Puts a smile on my face.
4. It’s Tennis Time. And this year, since the AZ state COVID shutdown just lifted, Lew and I wasted no time and went out this past Sunday morning to hit. Hallelujah!
5. Resilient Response #9 and #10: Spring Cleaning for both the Home and Heart!

When you clean out the old and make room for the new, it is invigorating. It is also a necessary step if we want to see change. I would guesstimate a good chunk of you are already knee-deep in the house cleaning process since hunkering down for the past 2 months was not an option.

There is just something about opening up the windows and clearing out the cobwebs that energizes me; or taking all the winter coverings off the patio furniture to welcome the season and abundant sunshine; or going through the closets and donating extra stuff (because one thing most Americans have is too much stuff).

Most of us are revitalized upon emerging from our winter hibernations, and perhaps even more so this year, since our entire world shutdown (okay you can argue Sweden). Cleaning can be methodical and calming. It can bring order out of chaos. I remember exactly where I was on 9-11 when the Twin Towers fell. After a phone call from my husband alerting me, I turned on the TV. I watched and folded laundry. Slowly. Methodically. A repetitive action requiring miniscule thought so I could focus elsewhere.

Resilience begins with our thoughts. I’ve talked with several friends over the past 2 months, who like myself, used this nothing on my calendar time to spring clean their homes and hearts.

Aside from the practical I’ve also seen the psychological cleaning that has gone on; folks who’ve taken this time to re-evaluate their jobs, their relationships, their feelings towards themselves and others. I’ve also read of those who haven’t. Those who doubled down on their addictions, abuse and destructive behaviors only to find themselves spinning on the same out-of-control merryground. If you want to get off, you ONLY need to make ONE positive change and stick with it. That is where we all begin.

At the beginning of the quarantine, when the initial fear and panic were setting in, a bitter, lonely, neighborhood bully needed our help. In a relationship that has been strained for nearly 20 years she reached out to us and we had a choice. Talk about a spring-cleaning of the heart. We could either forgive, in the blink of an eye, or not. As it was sort of sprung upon us, it caused me great pause. Not the forgiveness aspect, we did that, but the afterthoughts. I ruminated about people in general during the coronavirus lockdown, and the thousands upon thousands of those dead and gone, and wondered how many of the living will amend their broken relationships while there is still time.

Resilience has many facets. Choose one response today that is applicable to you and GO FOR IT!

I’m rooting you on.

“Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction.Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.” Lam. 3:22-23

As always, praying you find a new mercy today and everyday,

Nannette

if you are interested in A BIGGER DOSE OF RESILIENCE, I am discounting my book and my Inspirational Cards by 10% and donating to our county hospital, the YRMC Foundation Area of Greatest Need Fund.