This Week's Reflection for Hope and Resilience

This is part of a series of weekly messages of hope and resilience that will be made available through Employee Connections and printed copies for those who do not have easy access to computers. Read last week's reflection here.

The house I grew up in as a child had big windows in the living room, practically floor to ceiling. I remember one spring evening when I was sitting on the floor in front of the window, watching the spring storm come in. The room swiftly darkened from the clouds rolling in. The smell of the air and feel of the wind through the slightly cracked window touched my face. Then the quiet clink of the rain starting to hit the window. It became more rapid until I had to shut the window. Then the storm became more intense. I wanted to sit there through it, but it began to hail, and my parents had me move into a different room, just in case. The next morning, the tulips were still standing – some looked a little less happy while others seemed bright and happy to have the rain. 

Isn’t that how life is sometimes? We are going through something, then whammo! Things go from a gentle storm to a severe downpour in an instant. We're fine with the storm when it's calm and light, but then things change. How do we care for ourselves when the hail begins to fall, when fear enters our hearts and our minds? How do we reconcile that sometimes the rain that happens in our lives can both create pain and nourish growth? 

In the last year, we all have had a series of challenges of varying severity and length in our personal and professional lives. And it seems too much sometimes. One of the things that has helped me to withstand the storm with resilience is to find my grounding. 

I'm sure you have heard of or even seen the great redwood trees that stand up to around 300 feet tall and have roots that are only about 6 feet underground. How is that even possible? The answer is that the great redwoods have intertwining roots that share nutrition and hold each other up when the wind and rain comes.

Maybe we need a combination of growing our own strong roots and having people around to hold onto when the storms come. Who's in your village? Who are people you can go to when the storms seems too much? And how do you grow your own roots?  

I leave you with this five-minute meditation for grounding, especially on tough days. May we all find the support and strength we need, no matter how strong our storms. 

- Chaplain Melissa Strong, Methodist Hospital

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We know these are difficult times. If you would like to speak with a chaplain for support, please feel free to reach out.

Methodist Hospital and Methodist Women’s Hospital: Call Operator “0” and ask for the chaplain to be paged.

Methodist Fremont Health: Call Scott Jensen at (402) 290-1408.