Feeling Discouraged

The news and happenings of the last few weeks have started to get to me.

I can feel my usually optimistic, enthusiastic spirit losing energy. I really started noticing it this morning when I woke up and wondered if everything I’m doing is even making a difference; whether I should just throw in the towel.

Then I went for a short walk

I walked to the spot where we get a bountiful patch of nettle each year and saw a couple of little tiny plants popping up through the dirt and leaf debris. I threw a few sticks for Bandit, our border collie, and then I saw the beautiful green, shiny leaves of the strong and resilient uva ursi and pipsissewa.

Neither plant is remotely phased by the climate of our economy, the shortage of toilet paper (I still don’t understand the urgency here) or the virus that is moving through the world.

I stood for a minute, contemplating with the plants, realizing how much I love working with them, learning about them, understanding them and discovering the ways their energy interacts with my body, mind and spirit.

I realized I need to be more like them: resilient and steady in the presence of storms, because once the storm passes, we will need their medicine and gifts of healing more than ever.

I know many people are experiencing serious hardships due to COVID-19 – financial, physical and mental. I’m not trying to downplay the reality of that. What I am saying is that I have a choice… you have a choice. We can respond to this situation in a positive way or be controlled by fear.

I am an old man and have known many worries in my life; most of them never happened. (attributed to Mark Twain)

Conclusion

I’m not going anywhere. I want to share my love of plant medicine and holistic health with as many people as possible. I do feel like withdrawing and being introspective, but I will do it in measured doses, and frankly, you may not even notice.

I started 2020 with the goal of focusing on personal development and creating the life I want. I will not allow this situation push me off track or get me down. I will be like the resilient plants whose very presence inspires us to remember there are seasons in life, and those seasons come and go. We don’t have to be directed by what is happening out there, we can direct ourselves by what we choose to believe and focus on.