When You're Having a Hard Time

It is the wonder of soldiers during wartime that the flowers keep blooming, someone wrote. Or maybe it was that nature keeps on naturing. This is a poor paraphrase from what I believe is Erich Maria Remarque’s, classic, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” about World War I.

This phenomenon was also noted in one of the best poems ever written about war, “In Flanders Field.” “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row…” It was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Canadian Army, after the 17 days of hell at Ypres in the spring of 1915. You can read it here: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm .

Like you probably, I draw solace from people who say things better than I do, and describe to me what’s in my own heart and soul, like great writers and poets. Both happy and sad things. It’s hard to communicate both extremes and that’s when we most want to express them. However, I’ve also heard great eloquence from people who were not poets and writers.

Just the other day The Brave One, my little friend who had a stroke on one side of her body, was doing what she had to to climb up and get something, and was repeating to herself, “I am resourceful, I am resourceful.”

But back to the flowers … those words have entered my mind in times of agony and grief, when I needed them. Leaving my Grandmother’s funeral on the most spectacular day in May the Chicago-area can offer … “How odd, “ I thought, “for the sun to be shining this way. And for the pansies to be in bloom.” Leaving for my beloved son’s Memorial Service, again, “My goodness. There’s a daffodil. How so?”

Yes, nature goes on naturing, and these things keep happening. Be sure and turn them around and learn from them. No matter what you’re going through, the flowers will keep blooming and there will come another spring.

When things seem insurmountable, go and plant a flower. Or take a bouquet over to someone’s house and sit a spell and visit. Or bring some into your own home and place them where you can enjoy them.

Every flower is a promise of spring and a new day and that things will go on. And most of all, that you’ll be there when they do! You are resourceful, you are resourceful, and in the midst of war, there will always be flowers blooming.

About the Author

©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Coaching, distance learning, and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your continued personal and professional development. I train and certify EQ coaches. Get in this field, dubbed “white hot” by the press, now, before it’s crowded, and offer your clients something of exceptional value. Start tomorrow, no residence requirement. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for free ezine.