Spring?

We’ve finally made it to spring or so says the calendar anyway. It’s been rather cold here in West Michigan. The snow has melted except for a very few ugly dark piles but the wind keeps blowing frigid air our way.

I have a dozen little purple crocus in my front yard that popped up about 3 weeks ago and have been opening up when the sun warms them up enough and closing down when they are too cold…much like me.

The song birds have returned too. I enjoy hearing their wonderful tunes. They seem to brighten up the sunshine even more for me and warm my heart when that chilly air hits my face.

I have a bad case of cabin fever…it’s been a long winter and I am eager to spend more time outside again when the temperatures finally warm up. It’s hard for me to be patient as the earth slowly warms up. The crocus and song birds are welcomed visions of things to come. They along with the sunshine bring hope.

Hope: “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen” according to the on line dictionary.

“Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large” says Wikipedia.

This winter it’s been hard at moments to have much hope when the nightly news reports gun violence time and time again, politicians in Washington repeatedly are unable to work together to make change happen, and on going White House tweets bully people with words and tones that are just plain wrong for any adult to do to another human being and terribly sad and embarrassing to see coming from the White House itself. It’s felt dark and ugly at times.

Where I focus my attention affects my emotions.

Those little purple crocus and noisy little song birds bring hope that shines right through all the ugly darkness. It’s the little everyday joys that are important to soak up and savor. They help remind us that there is indeed balance in life. We just need to be sure to take notice!

What little joys in your everyday life bring you hope and balance?