Did Someone Say Stress??

My husband Matt and I have been spending a lot more time outside now that the days are warmer and brighter. We started using our patio again to eat outside and enjoy nature with our family.

There are lots of birds singing, bees buzzing and I saw my 1st butterfly and my 1st dragonfly with minutes of each other. Matt saw his 1st humming bird of the season too.

I noticed the little helicopter seeds all over my yard,my flowerbeds, and piling up in my gutter.

There were so many in number that I took the time to look up on the Internet what does it mean when there are A LOT of helicopter seeds everywhere!

They are referred to as maple copters and the proper name is samaras.

Here is what the farmers almanac had to say. “An over-abundance of samaras sometimes means the tree experienced some sort of “stress” the previous year, so producing a bumper crop of seeds is the tree’s way of carrying on the species, should that stress continue and that particular tree not survive.”

That made me think. Does my environment respond to my   stress?

As you can imagine, if you have had to bury your child, or if you haven’t, then you can’t imagine, but, this has been a very stressful year for our family.

It’s been filled with huge change. Even the little changes that might not be such a big deal to others seem to be magnified to us.

We know that our environment is very important to our overall health.

We live out in the country so we are surrounded by all different kinds of trees, shrubs and bushes.

There is not a lot of automobile activity around us, it’s peaceful and it’s quiet.

We had lots of rain this past year, so I know that there are natural factors as to why our maple tree let go of so many maple-copters.

So how have I been dealing with stress this past year?

Well, I’ve continued to do CrossFit at least 5 times a week.

I’m well into my 3rd year of doing CrossFit,only taking 6 weeks off for surgery right before Billy was murdered.

Getting to the gym is one thing that helps me to feel “normal.”

I wake up, get out of bed, get the kids moving and out the door to school, get my grandson going, and when he gets gets on the bus, I head to the gym.

Somehow pushing myself to do the workout helps me for that hour.

For the last few months, I’ve been going in earlier and doing some accessory work with my friend.

Sometimes we even get a tough cardio workout done before class. A bonus workout!

It’s nice to have that time together to talk and laugh and work  hard.

It’s one thing that I do for myself that usually helps me feel better and relieve some stress!

It’s also great when Matt and I take a CrossFit class together.  Our son Robbie comes with us when he can, or he catches another class later. It’s something we do as a family.

Like my maple tree, I’m trying to not only survive, but to thrive.

Thrive in the midst of the hardest thing I have ever had to go through.

I also realize that doing little things for others takes my mind off of myself.

I try to look for opportunities to plant seeds of kindness when I can.

Whether it’s putting a grocery cart back for someone, paying for someone’s car wash, buying coffee for the person in line behind me or just giving someone a compliment.

I really desire to overcome the evil that has touched my family with good.

Doing something kind for someone else makes my hurting heart smile.

It eases the anxious thoughts that can be so stressful.

I hope the seeds of kindness and love that I try to plant in the lives of others will take root, and be a breath of fresh air for us both in this stressful world.