One of the things that helps me most to move forward is to look back, to see where I’ve been. Many times haven’t been easy, and many situations have not had clear answers or resolutions. But I “in the now” do not look so much at the details as the heart behind them. That is, the heart expressed in the care of friends, doctors, family, and others, and the heart I’ve benefited from within myself. The heart to continue, to listen to God, to have faith.

It’s easy to think that each tough situation is “the worst.” And, yes, each situation is distinct, with its own set of facts and problems.

But if you look back at even one other difficult situation, you can see how you more than survived. How you carried through. How you learned and grew. How you realized even more how special certain people are to you and you to them.

You had the heart to go on, then, and you have it  now.

It’s fitting that Valentine’s Day and Heart Health Awareness Month fall in February, when the weather can be brutal and the temperatures plummet. February is not a comfortable month for many of us. And yet, we celebrate the heart. The warm, strong, ever-beating, loving and being loved heart.

If you still find it difficult to believe that these days will be better, or that you have the strength to meet them with courage, pause a moment. Reflect on another time, a tough time, in the past. Look how far you’ve come from then to now, and how much more muscle you have to push ahead.

Look back, and see the heart to go on has never left you. And it’s carrying you through now, too.

Blessings for the day,

Maureen