Many of you have asked me how I decide what to write about. In all honesty, I don't think a lot about it; I just write whatever is in me in that moment. This blog, other than being a place to connect with people, has primarily been a source for me to figure things out. To write things down. To have a place where I can go back and remind myself of things I need to remember.
I was hoping that I'd be feeling better by now [I am the most unrealistic human on the planet, apparently], but since I'm not yet feeling stellar, I thought I'd improvise and do a Flashback Friday on a Monday. And, ironically, when I went back to look for an old post I found one that was a darn good reminder for me right now. One I needed.
So I'm sharing in case it might be a good reminder for someone else out there, too.
Invincible
[originally published November 2008]
I love words. Not just for the sake of writing and their meaning, but the way they sound when spoken aloud. There are certain phrases that are given a depth that would otherwise go unnoticed. It's just something about the way the words sound together.
The quote pictured below is on my wall of doodles, and it's a perfect example of a message I like for it's meaning, but one I like so much better when said aloud. Try saying it and see if you feel the difference:
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned
there was in me an invincible summer."
~Albert Camus
See what I mean? It sounds like poetry to me.
It's also a quote that happens to be true. I put this on my wall not to inspire me, but to remind me of what I've already learned so I don't have to keep re-teaching myself.
When things get harder, when my health is more trying, the thing that keeps me calm and sane is the fact that I know I've done it before. The pain has been bad before, the symptoms are all ones that I've faced in the past, the exhaustion has reared it's ugly head and the headaches have tried to break me. And during those times, those wintry moments when things seem cold and endless and bleak, there is a summer deep within me that is untouchable. Invincible. I know it's there even when it seems far away and unreachable because I've been through it all before... and the summer always rises to the surface.
I have faith that He hasn't left me empty. So in those moments I remind myself of what I've already learned... that in the midst of winter there is in me an invincible summer.
What have you already learned that seems easy for you to forget?
Because I really do believe that once we know better we can't pretend to be ignorant anymore. Try making it a habit to remind yourself now of what you've already learned so that during your next run of trouble... the winter moments that inevitably come... you will remember and believe that He hasn't left you empty.
Remember that He has given you an invincible summer within.