Reflections on being pruned for growth... I’ve gone through a remarkable growth spurt in the past week. Last week I was Chicken Little and this week I feel like Foghorn Leghorn. Last week I was shaking in my boots. Nix that, Chicken Little didn’t wear boots. Try again. Last week my feathers were all ruffled over our families’ finances. Everywhere I turned there were headlines of doom and gloom. The whole world was going broke. I was frantic. I ran around yelling, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Well, it’s a week later and so far the sky is still suspended in its normal locale. As I sit on my porch and write this, the sun still rises in all its glory through a canopy of oak trees. And thankfully I have lost my Chicken Little mentality. So what happened? Reality really hasn’t changed too much in a week’s time. But my thinking has changed. I accepted that this is the reality of today. And I accepted that it would likely be the reality for some time to come. I could get caught up in feeling like a victim who needs to go to work to pay taxes for expenditures that I don’t believe in or I can accept the reality of the day and get on with it. I choose the later. I choose to Live Beautifully. I choose Healing. I choose to live with Love, not fear. I choose today to do my work well. I choose to prepare the meals for my family with love and attention to their nutritional needs. I choose to tend to my garden. I choose to gaze at this glorious sunrise. I choose to let the rays of the sun envelop me. I choose to express gratitude for all that is. We are being pruned right now. Cut back. It hurts. I feel bare and exposed. Instead of developing new growth, I feel like it’s time for developing a stronger root system. We can each choose to whither and slowly die back or we can choose to refocus our efforts on becoming stronger and healthier than ever before. I choose to focus on inner growth. I will send my roots deep and strong. This growth won’t be perceptible in the near future, but in the long run I will grow tall and beautiful.