Bouncing Back

Today, everything is good. The blooms are coming and the garden is slowly coming back to life, after another long winter. The rain, from the past few days, has cleared, and I look forward to getting in the dirt again. Each year, I forget about a few of the perennial blossoms, and am excited to see the beginnings of the hyacinth or paper whites. Even the lilies are showing off their green stalks, preparing for their debut this summer. The garden regenerates before my eyes.

I need the same rejuvenation. I want to lose the bad information, and retain the good. In the past year, the ugly that touched my life will still exist. As my attitude changes with the season of Lent/Spring, the dormant, listless browns begin to turn into the bright greens of renewal.

Once we are a witness, we can not “unknow” anything, and certain things are stuck in our minds forever. However, there are personal ways I lessen this ugly and bring out the beautiful, and to fill my mind with better things, so the bad seem less accentuated. The memories we make may supply us throughout our lives. I would hate to be older, and recollect nothing but the awful.

Last night, I spoke with a friend’s mother. She is 94 years old and quite an amazing woman. We spoke of the changes in her life, her love of watching Jeopardy, and even called me a “youngster”. (Perspective is everything.) My friend worries about her, but he’s too close to her. From the outside, I see an incredibly intelligent and down to earth woman, who is grateful for each day she has, and does not allow any of the bad memories steal from her extraordinary life. Today, everything is good. And that should be enough.

I received a note from an old friend, reminding me of something horrible that happened years ago. Sometimes pain can make a gash and we heal, but the scar remains. She and I had some other amazing, laughing and being young. We remember these times more than the former, because the good memories seem to always soften the bad. We’ve made plans to meet and make more memories this November, and I am so excited to see her again. We both look forward to laughing together again.

So I will fill up with new and wonderful memories for my life, looking for the cushion of the positive over the negative. I want the extra hug, the warm sun and the promise of renewal. Love and friendship, laughing and living, overtaking the gloom. The flowers are recapturing the garden into its color and true form, eloquently reminding me beauty needs to be seen and enjoyed, and not to dwell on the past cold winter.

Today, everything is good. And that should be enough.