And the Earth just keeps spinning

Resilience can be associated with the ability to ride with change. I have never been a glide-on-the-wings-of-an-eagle kind of girl, and could really be characterized as quite change resistant, but sometimes life circumstances grab us by the nose, squeeze, then pull us along for a ride.

This morning, I awoke to a winter wonderland. The woods outside my Michigan window still glisten and look downright magical. But, contrary to my Tennessee standard of snow-day norm, life goes on here even when it snows. What I mean is that if I were still in Middle Tennessee, I would have looked longingly out the window with steam rising from my green tea and tickling my nose, and feel the fuzz from my slippers between my toes. Here, a snowy morning means the feel of wool around my face, the sound of grit under my shoes, and the business end of a snow shovel in my hand.

Resilience, drifted into my mind, and I recalled that I do have the ability to go with the flow, and groove with the move. So, as I shoveled, I reminded myself that I really felt warm under my layers, I earned a good workout, and the colors surrounding me, snow white, sky blue, and evergreen looked like a painting to hang over a fireplace in a woodsy lodge. It was a downright nice sight on which to rest my eyes.

One evening years ago, when my son, Nicholas was about four years old, we found ourselves in a scurry to make it to his sister, Elise's, softball game on time. "Run in the house and grab a jacket," I implored to the boy. "When the Sun goes down, it is going to get chilly."

A child who could not be rushed, he slowly considered what I said and matter-of-factly shared that the Sun does not move, it is the Earth that rotates.
I hurriedly sent him in for a jacket because when the Earth rotates to the dusk place, he was going to get cold.

This was one of the many life lessons my boy taught me - the Earth does not stop moving for any person, or any issue. When we feel heavily burdened with our problems and worries, the Sun still rises in the morning (and I believe we established that means figuratively), birds still sing, and snow still falls. People still must get up and go to work; dogs still need walked and cupboards still must be filled with groceries. Even on the days when we consume ourselves with the worries of life and cannot seem to hit the mute button on those voices of burden, the Earth continues to rotate.

The good news in the whole Earth rotation imagery thing is that the Sun continues to hold still. In other words, when issues of life spin out of control, we must find a constant that holds us firmly in place amid the chaos.

This “sun” could be anything that gives you a sense of stability and represents that tiny little place that will not change. I like to make mental lists of those elements in my life that will remain still among the whirlwinds of noise, confusion, chaos, and general Earth rotations that threaten my peace.

First, my faith. I know God's love and care for me is a sun that will never move. Without this assurance, I could not get my socks on in the morning, let alone, the snow shoveled.

After that, I have a long list, as do you, of the lovely pleasures in my life that I can count on as my unshakeable sun. In the furious blizzard of change and disruption in my life, what would I do without hot baths at night, dark chocolate in the checkout lane, oatmeal in the mornings, tea with milk, dogs at my feet, calls from my daughter, and the sound of the garage door opening when my husband is due home?

I don’t like to accept and handle change, but the Earth keeps moving, so I try as I might to hang on to something that holds still when I need to, and do my best to ride the waves of change rather than fight them.