Fall is such a beautiful time of year for me. I love to watch the leaves change color. I love to see what colors they will change to
each year. I love to see the leaves fall
from the tree, showing a time when life was full and vibrant, exciting and new
each day (kind of like summer), but now, a time has come when a rest falls over
nature. The trees must have a time, each
year, when they rest from the sun and wind and rain and heat of summer to rest
in the fall, recovering from all that has happened during the summer. They are choosing to recover from what they
have endured.
To recover is an interesting concept. It is a verb meaning to get back or regain;
to regain the strength, composure, balance or like of oneself; to regain health
after one has been sick. When used with
the word “from” the statement is made that one has recovered from a bout with
the flu.
When we are sick, we want to be better soon. The cold or flu, a broken appendage or surgeries
are all things we want to get over sooner than later. No one is looking forward to their next cold
but instead prays for the mercy and grace to go on with life without the
intrusion of a summer, fall, winter or spring cold.
No one wants to find himself or herself in a place where
grief is necessary, but as life goes on and time progresses the occasion occurs
and grief is the result. As we spoke of
last time, grief is natural and normal. It
is also the automatic response to any loss, whether real or imagined. We will talk about the distinctions next
time.
Grief is normal and natural.
Grief can also undergo the process of recovery, but recovery is a choice
and not an automatic. You must choose to
recover. Recovery is a verb, and as such
requires action from you. The first
action is to choose. The next action and
successive actions require a choice as well – a choice each moment and each day
to continue the upward climb of recovery.
This is an introduction to the concept of recovery.
Next time, we will take further steps in our
understanding of recovery. Questions we
can ask at this point may be:
- · What can recovery look like?
- · How long will I have to choose to recover?
- · What if I make the choice to not recover – what is next?
- · If I choose to recover – what is next?
More to come next week.
Have a good week and remember to choose love, with the first recipient of that love to be you.
Love who you are!
Choose to love you!
