It is so easy to get caught up in the negativity of this world. The news these days is designed to keep us angry and up in arms about the world around us. Now, there are plenty of injustices in this world (seriously, I could go on and on here!) but to focus on the ugly, the terrible, the scary, all the time takes away our own personal sense of joy. I’m not saying you should put your head in the sand, because that isn’t the answer. I am saying that sometimes we have to slow down, stop and take stock of what we’re focusing on, and how that’s affecting us and the people the we love.
I know that I am a sensitive soul, always have been. When I focus on the bad of this world, it changes my entire outlook. I get depressed and find myself being very negative too. That isn’t good for me, or for those around me. In honor of the season, I want to look for the good in the world. I want to focus on beauty and positive things for awhile. This time of year I think it’s especially easy to get caught up in the negative, simply because the holidays bring added stress to our plates. Especially if you’re a mom. (Did i pick the right gifts for the kids, how will I pay for all these expensive things, are we spending enough time together, etc..)
So I challenge you to join me in celebrating the small things. Like this ice crystal. Now, I don’t like to be cold and winter is not my favorite time of year, but you have to admire a simple ice crystal. It’s beautiful and fragile, yet a bunch of them together are incredibly strong. It’s amazing really, how it mimics the very structure that life is based on. Atoms, molecules, ice crystals, neurons, trees, streams, mountain ranges, the cosmos, it all forms with a specificity that we can only begin to understand.
I really believe life is meant to be like that ice crystal. Alone we are beautiful and fragile, but together we build something that is so much more. Together we support one another, we form a strength that is much harder, but still breathtakingly beautiful.
The word “tribe” has become kind of a buzz word these days, but I believe that is because we’ve been lacking it for so long. We live our lives like islands, trying to be strong and unyielding against life’s storms. But even islands are usually found in clusters, so they can ride out the storms together in a chain of strength. This is one lesson that life has been teaching me over and over again, because apparently I’m just now starting to listen to it.
I am that ice crystal. Alone I am fragile. I can be easily brushed aside. But with my tribe I am unstoppable. I am strong, I am unyielding, but I am still just as beautiful. Sharing my gifts doesn’t make me less, it makes me more. Asking for the help of others doesn’t make we weak, it makes me stronger, just as helping others doesn’t take away from me or my family, it gives us purpose and greater understanding and compassion.
So I guess I’m not celebrating a small thing after all. Perhaps I’m celebrating all that makes us human. If you’re reading this and you connect with it, you are part of my tribe. If you find it crazy, you probably belong to someone else’s tribe and that’s okay too. Either way, find your tribe baby, because it will only enhance your life.
