The season of new life, new hope, new dreams.

Hello spring. So very welcome after the long, dark, cold of winter.

Healing success, so ardently wanted after the long dark night of betrayal trauma.

I am desperate to heal. I bet you are too.

If wishes made it so I’d be the beaming new grandmother of a beautiful little girl who lived in my town. I’d have a reliable, honest spouse who supported my dreams. A healthy, loving marriage. My debts would be gone. I’d weigh twenty pounds less and be in as good a shape as I was ten years ago–before all these life challenges.

Ahh..but wishes are just that—wishes. Ephemeral, diaphanous… unenforceable, dreams. Subject to the brokenness of the world, the brokenness of individuals, to free choice run rampant.

I put it to you that this season of rebirth can be that for you too. No matter your place on the long bumpy road to recovery, you can find some joy. You have lungs to fill with the floral sweetness around you, eyes to see the ribbon of Milky Way stars on a clear night.

You have the gift of choice. The gift to see, feel, hear, smell the wonders in every day of life. You can taste buttery soft bread, a tangy sweet orange, a decadent, rich dessert. You are here —alive and present to see things no generation has seen before you. You come from strength, you stand on the shoulders of your ancestors, you can read this–you have literacy, internet access, the world at your fingertips. This gift called life is yours. No one and nothing can take you– from you.

Slow down and appreciate the beauty of this season. You can choose to see all the good, live large in the breath of spring that fills the days. You, my friend, are going to be okay. You will get through this. Pain does not last forever. Nothing does. Not even spring.

Rejoice in the gift of your life, your friends, family, home. You have many blessings in which to rejoice.

Breathe.