By Marie W.O.W.C.P.

As spring approaches, I find myself noticing the trees in a way that feels deeply personal.

After a long, cold winter, the branches can look bare and tired.

At times, they almost seem as if they could never survive what they have been through.

And yet… they do.

Little by little, they begin to wake up.

Small buds appear.

A touch of green returns.

Life begins to show itself again.

Watching this always reminds me of resilience.

It reminds me of myself.

There have been many times in my life when I have gone through seasons that felt like winter.

Seasons that were cold, difficult, and heavy.

Moments when I questioned whether I had the strength to keep moving forward.

Moments when the challenges in front of me felt bigger than I was.

But somehow, like the trees, I made it through.

I may have felt still.

I may have felt tired.

I may have felt as if I could not withstand what life was placing in front of me.

But I kept standing.

I kept growing.

I kept finding a way through the cold.

That is what resilience means to me.

It is not about never feeling weak.

It is not about pretending the difficult seasons do not hurt.

It is about continuing to stand, even in the middle of the storm.

It is about trusting that after every winter, spring will come again.

Nature reminds me that even after the deepest freeze, life always finds a way to bloom.

And so do we.

Seeing the beauty between the challenges.
— Marie W.O.W.C.P.