Bounce Back!

This weekend we enjoyed a party celebrating Mom's recovery from cancer. Her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes have grown back. Mom has bounced back!

Mom's health and attitude reminded me of something I read today about palm trees. During a hurricane, other trees will be blown over and uprooted, but the palm tree can bend all the way over until its top reaches the ground and still not break. If the storm lasts for hours, they will still bounce right back. Why? It's because they are resilient. Biologists have pointed out that when the palm tree weathers such a storm, their root system is actually strengthened by the stress. This gives them new opportunities for growth.

My Mom is like that. She has come back stronger than ever. She has bounced back. Life almost knocked the wind out of her sails, but she is an overcomer. Life is good! The cancer was not welcome in her body, but she did not let it steal her joy.

She's still standing. It reminds me of the Elton John song, "I'm Still Standing". The lyrics go like this: "Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life......Once I never could hope to win....I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah....I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah...."

I'm trying to learn something from this for my own life. Like that old cliche', "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade," I want to be able to make something delicious out of something sour. Like the palm tree, I may get battered and beat, but once the wind stops, I'll bounce right back again. I like what I read in Joel Osteen's book when it stated, "I'm too blessed to be stressed." Let's make this our motto. Let's appreciate the little things, as well as the big things.

Light and love,
Patty