Thrive Don't Survive

As we end 2021, I want my last post to reflect where I think many of us have been and where I believe we need to go in 2022 and beyond.

When asked how we are doing, we tend especially over the last two years, to say we are hanging on by a thread, surviving. While surviving is a real world reaction to those things that have happened, it has become a mental and emotional crutch for us to lean on when we don't know how to express what is truly on our hearts and minds.

I, too, have been guilty of using one or more of those iterations of phrasing to describe all the upheaval in my life during the last 4 months in particular. But why? I've had to ask myself this question a few times lately. Why do I only see myself as surviving as opposed to thriving?

I know that the answer can be complex for each of us. Where do we draw the line between thriving and surviving? Do we only consider ourselves as the former when things are going well in our lives? Or can we look at our circumstances, our hurricanes as I said yesterday, and find the silver-lined cloud that is just beneath the surface?

As I've said in past sermons, we have been told there will be trials and tribulations throughout our lives. How we walk through these are the key to our moving from survival mode to thrive mode. It all begins with our own mental, emotional and spiritual resilience. It is something we have to work on day by day. It is like pencil that has to be continually sharpened to ensure the clarity of what is written. In this sense, what is written on our hearts and minds.

I don't say anything new when I tell you that life is a journey. It is a journey that is meant to be traveled and meant to be experienced. And very important is that we don't travel through this journey of life alone. Knowing we don't journey alone should provide us with a sense of peace and comfort. But as some of you know, seeing we are not alone can be difficult at times, especially during the darkest of our days.

I love the "Footprints" poem where we are shown how we are being held and carried throughout our lives, even when we can't see it. So, I truly think we need to refocus our own attitudes on our ability to thrive through the most daunting of circumstances. We have a choice. Thrive or survive? We are more resilient than we give ourselves credit for and just need to put one foot in front of the other to begin!

Move out of survival mode and into a bright new year full of moments of thriving!!

Hope you enjoy this devotional and haiku for journaling!

"Thrive not just survive,

Resilience on the journey,

Daily, step by step."