Resilience

Resilience is accepting your new reality,
even if it's less good than the one you had before...

I listened carefully
to this voice on the radio
listened to her story as I drove
Just minutes before
She had held no real interest to me
but now she spoke to my soul
this strong woman
this survivor
this women who grew despite her pain
this resilient woman

She told her tale honestly and without fear
so that other woman would know
they could do the same
they could be strong
they could survive
they could grow
they could be resilient
even in the face of absolute horror

You can fight it; you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost
or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.

She made me feel weak, pitiful, bitter
She also challenged me
She challenged me to stop wallowing
in my dark places
in my heartache
in my wallowing

As her words sunk in I had to pull over
to cry tears for the me I used to be
the me I needed to leave behind
the me I had to give up if I wanted
to be strong
to survive
to grow
to be resilient

I could have stood on a mountain and shook my fist at God
but in the end that would’ve changed nothing.

Reflecting on her story
words of truth overwhelmed me
they said so perfectly
what I needed to hear
what I needed to do to heal myself
and I did it

I was strong
I survived
I grew
I was resilient

I decided that I may not control what happens to me
but I can control how I react to what happens to me
Enjoy the good
Keep moving through the bad

Never let the pain cripple your spirit

She is gone now from this Earth
taken too young by a cruel black malignancy
but her words return to me almost daily
and I hear them now
as I once again face a new reality
as I have to move forward with my life
no matter how great the pain
to do less would be failure
to do less would be to fail her
and what she was trying to teach me

I must be strong
I must survive
I must grow
I must be resilient