My mom had some one-liners that are deeply embedded in who I am today. All of them having some significant impact.

“You can’t see around corners.” She would say kindly. And even though it was the farthest thing away from what I was thinking in that moment, I found relief every time her words gently hit the air. In general, she had a sweet and loving mama voice, but I was most aware of it when she said something simple and thought-provoking. Something I needed to hear. Even still, deep in the depths of my grief.

But if we seek, we shall find…

It never seems to fail, after several hours or even days of life rolling along smoothly, happily even, out of nowhere, the clouds return.

Why does my life constantly have this way of rolling…good, then bad, then good…it makes it impossible to even enjoy the good at all!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.

So let’s recreate this inner dialogue, being mindful about the light we choose. First let’s begin by stating the things that we do know to make it feel less dark. The coming dark winter may simply be similar to last March, except with shorter days and less warmth (depending on where you live). Since you DID survive last March, as well as April, etc, there is no reason to think you can’t survive it again.

I thought 2020 would reveal our clearest picture ever, yet could not have anticipated this kind of a ride through time.

I think it’s time we officially getting out of line. Stop working on how to survive and turn the high beams on what’s next: thriving.

As I walked my dog this morning in the bright sunshine, I was reminded of the little things that still feel normal. Like the quiet streets in my community, the birds chirping in the background, the squirrels running happily around, and the hint of summer in the distance. An unusually warm spring morning offering hope…things that are normal.

How do you stay calm in this climate of constant change and chaos and how will that even help?