Always Remember

"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." -Christopher Robin to Pooh

Today has been an inward day for me....thoughts of so many of my friends who have had a difficult year, the obstacles they have overcome, the battles they have fought. This quote tonight is what I want to share with them, with all of you. It is easy to forget our strengths when times are tough.

Tonight, many of you may be going through the same struggle that my friends are dealing with......illness and injury, hearing those words, just one more surgery or one more round of .....or there's an experimental program....you'll just have to live with it.
Maybe you are in the midst of upheaval and tremendous change in your life.....early retirement, loss of job, relocating, retraining, loss of identity.
It might be the loss of someone you love, a spouse, a parent, a friend, a child....how do you fill the emptiness?

As I sit here tonight in my Eeyore pj's I think of my friend that I did a private
yoga class with this morning. She was in a horrible car crash a few years ago, she has had multiple surgeries (maybe nine or ten)she has pins, rods, you name it, all on
one side of her body. About a year ago, the PT said that's it, maybe some yoga could help. She could lift the one arm almost shoulder high. She called and she I began to work, she had major setbacks this year, but she hung on.....today she did a side plank. Which means that arm... she now has full range of motion, and the strength on that side of her body to hold and support all her weight. There were alot of tears
shed this morning at her house, and they were tears of joy and gratitude and celebration. We are stronger, braver and smarter! sometimes someone else has to believe it for us, but that's ok. I pray to God that we all have someone in our lives who can believe when we can't.

I have always loved Pooh and his friends, the wisdom in his story is amazing. The kindness and friendships, well we should all take a lesson from Pooh. My Eeyore pjs are a wreck, I should have tossed them ages ago....but they make me smile, and they remind me of Pooh and all the gang....they remind me, stronger, braver, and smarter.