A New Hope

Isn’t it appropriate this Easter weekend that I have found some hope. The new medication I’m taking seems to be working. So far, so good. I’m hopeful that I’ll now be able to change the behaviors in my life that I’ve been using to self-sabotage. There are, of course, concerns for me to keep an eye on, but this post IS all about rainbows!

Conditions for severe weather today were just right. Now, that doesn’t mean it was absolutely going to happen, but the opportunity was there. If we didn’t have modern day forecasting that allows us to know in advance that there was a chance/likelihood of severe weather coming, it could have caught us all off-guard. That’s how I’ve felt about this set back. The conditions were right for a storm to brew, but I didn’t realize it. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, so I feel like I should have seen it coming. The reality, though, is that my mood stabilizer could have been just fine for more years to come. I didn’t know that many people with Bipolar 1 have to have their medication adjusted somewhat regularly. Maybe, with that forecasting knowledge handy, I might have known to keep my eyes vigilantly on the sky for any sign of severe weather on the way.

Some thunderstorms are much more severe than the one that went over my house today. They come with darkness, hail, tornadoes, and high-winds. I’ve been through emotional and/or mental storms of that nature. But this recent one was a lot like the weather that I experienced today. Things were warm and beautiful earlier today, a nice breeze was blowing that kept the heat from feeling gross after the long cool season we’ve had. The smell of the lilacs out my back door was lovely. I didn’t notice at first how much the wind had kicked up. It wasn’t until I heard the first peals of thunder that I realized the weather had changed dramatically. The rain started to pour a moment later. I was taken completely off guard because I hadn’t been paying attention to the signs. Though there was wind, heavy rain, and thunder for a while, the storm broke before sunset. The sun has now crowded out most of the clouds, even as it begins to sink below the horizon, resulting in a beautiful, vibrant sign of hope in the sky.

That is where I am living at the moment. Maybe I’m still in the much fainter reflection of the brighter rainbow, but I think I can see the promise of a new hope.

Thanks for ‘listening’! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop them below or send me an email.

Much love,
Teri

What signs are you missing? Are there things that just don’t seem to be going right in your life, no matter how much you want them or how hard you feel like you’re working? Don’t ignore the signs. Reach out to a friend, family member, spiritual leader, or mentor. If you have a known mental illness or other medical condition, maybe start with your doctor. Don’t miss the signs of a storm coming.