When Beauty Gets Brighter: Finding perspective and feeling grateful

If you’ve been reading my blog the last six months, you know that I’ve been through a challenging roller coaster of health issues. Just six weeks ago, I wondered if my sick-feeling state of being would be permanent.

I was running low on Hope. 

I felt distant from God’s life-giving energy. 

Beauty was dimmed.

 

Just as I was preparing to realign my expectations of healing, my health improved enough to make some larger treatment adjustments, and a month later, my story is different. I’m starting to feel better!

 

When I was sick, one of the things I worried about was that I would never again have a summer of riding and camping like I’d had before. I grieved the potential loss, and fear pulled me into a pit of sadness and solitude. While there may have been other paths around this pit, they were closed off for me. I was compelled to crawl in. It sure made it more difficult to see beauty from the bottom of this hole where my fears were magnified and echoed. When I finally was able to climb out and emerge on the other side, I was anxious to see just how much healing I’d gained.

As June ended, I’d been feeling better almost two weeks. I knew the true test of my health would come with a return to camping over the Fourth of July weekend. My husband and I joined my family in the mountains, and we set up camp in our traditional location. On Saturday, our crew took a long trail ride, the kind of ride I’d feared I’d never have again.

The day was such a gift.

I saw beauty along the way as if for the first time, like I’d cleaned a dirty windshield. I cherished every moment of the ride, including the typically annoying parts: the wind in my face, the dusty roads, the rocks and potholes and tree branches, the mud flinging off the tires into my seat, and the sunshine, blue sky, and green trees. All of it was joyful. I couldn’t stop smiling, and I sent a steady stream of silent “thank you” praises to the Creator.

 

.

Hope is beginning to flow again.

I am reassured that I’m connected to something bigger than myself, and I’m tapping into that Universal energy.

Beauty is brighter and more abundant.

 

I had a mighty dose of perspective that came from some pretty serious health issues. But I think we can all access our own avenue of perspective to get inspired, especially after living in a pandemic for over a year. Maybe it’s a past obstacle you’ve overcome that you need to call up as a reminder of your joys. Maybe it’s a shift in mindset as you talk about your successes and strengths instead of your failures and faults. Or maybe you’re in the bottom of the pit and you need to ask for help in climbing out, trusting that person to lead you to a new perspective.

Just as the light gets brighter when the clouds clear, beauty becomes brighter when the fog of challenging times lifts. We just have to look for it.

Where is beauty brightest for you?

When your perspective shifts, how can you find gratitude?