Easter is one of my favorites besides Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s, and the other 360 days of the year! In the church of my upbringing, we took this holiday seriously. After the Good Friday silence, somber service, and in my case, sobbing over the horrific Crucifixion of Christ, Easter arrived, by contrast, with glorious celebration. Christ was risen. The Easter bunny delivered the baskets, and the choir raised the roof with joyous Alleluias. I got to put on my frilly new easter dress and shed it just as quickly to get in comfier clothes the minute I go home from church. We ate a delicious meal followed by sweet bread and Mom’s Easter masterpiece – a coconut-frosted lamb cake on a bed of tinted green coconut “grass.” Thin pieces of licorice formed the cute little mouth and carefully selected jelly beans were smiling eyes. We loved that lamb cake!
After dinner, already over-sugared, the egg hunt was on! The bunny got more clever every year until one furry faux pas when he left an egg hidden over the light bulb in a lamp. That night the missing egg appeared as it melted into sugary dripping jelly beans and coated the table below! I never let on, but I had a good idea of what to expect in my basket since the easter bunny always visited ahead of time and left them way back on the shelf in my parent’s closet. In stolen moments, I climbed up and took a sneak peek. I loved my little shovels, sand sifters, bubbles, and easter books. Through the eyes of my younger self, Jesus, Jelly Beans, and Joy were the hallmarks of the day!
Perhaps because of this, or maybe because nature is coming to life, I always feel a stirring of resurrection in my soul during this time of year. My resurrection this year is a wildly enjoyable creative flow. I finally got my little children’s Easter Activity Book published. It is a bit late for the holiday, but I enjoyed every minute of creating coloring pages, dot-to-dots, and playful activities for toddlers. I think I am one again! I don’t know what’s next. We’ll see when I get there 🙂
Lately, I’ve seen so many people eager to create change. Suddenly, people are pulling back to rest, moving, quitting jobs, dying, coming to life, starting businesses, diving into passions they’ve put off… you name it. Change is the constant of the day. It is in the air.
I have gone through countless deaths and resurrections in my life. I’ve been crucified by people who didn’t get their way with me. Each time I went down, I chose to get up and point my thoughts toward anything that felt better. I genuinely mean anything! Once after a person was particularly nasty, I stood reeling in shock until I realized I had to reclaim my joy quickly before I started spiraling downhill. So I looked for the first thing to appreciate and saw my bathroom counters. Never mind the cruel human who had recently ripped me to shreds. I LOVED my counters.
I appreciated the stone, the haulers, cutters, delivery folks, installers, and the smooth, cool finish. I started looking around my bathroom and appreciated the fixtures, lights, and old but still-soft towels. I buried my face in one and enjoyed its fresh scent. I ran my hands under cool water and felt the soothing flow on my skin. I was finally able to breathe again. I reveled in the feeling of that deep, cleansing breath. I started to remember that I had a good life, was a good person, and that most people I interact with are healthy and kind souls. Suddenly I felt compassion for the hurting soul. I saw clearly how their cruelty directly resulted from their pain and inability to manage their emotional space. It had nothing to do with me. I had died to my ego, resurrected my spirit, and rebirthed myself into the light – all over a piece of granite!
It requires perseverance to resurrect yourself when you are going through a challenging time. Old habits die slowly, but with a little commitment, you can start bringing your spirit and joy back to life. You can accept yourself where you’re at and then start to choose towards better feelings, happier choices, and self-soothing actions. “I am who I am” always precedes “What’s next?”
So while I’m on a high-vibe-ride, I’m milking these good feelings for all they are worth. When challenges come, as they invariably do, I keep my commitment to myself to seek better feelings and focus and focus on desired solutions. Sometimes I’m the acorn that wants to lie dormant. Sometimes I’m the impatient acorn that wants to grow into an oak. Lately, I’m the oak who wants to produce acorns!
Here are a few tips to help you resurrect your joy…
1. Accept yourself as you are
Even those of us who know better slip into self judgment. Conditioning is thick and deep. “We should do more, make more, be more, la la la.” In truth, we are All-That-Is having an experience as something, someone, somewhere, in some time. We are light itself, birthed in billions of different forms. We can’t possibly be anything less. As the angels say, we can only experience that truth or not.
So accept yourself as you are, right here, right now. “I’m sad. I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m happy. I’m cold. I’m hot. I’m shaking and quaking. I’m so eager I want to run in circles like a puppy. I want to eat a candy cane before breakfast. I want to eat a healthy grain bowl. I want to go outside and dance barefoot in the dewy grass. I want an ice shower, a warm bath, a cozy blanket, a crips walk. I want to throw something. I want the world to shape up. I want to celebrate life! I want to go out with friends. I want everyone to leave me alone. I want to stay up. I want to sleep. I want to rest. I want to get going. I want to make a coloring book, a children’s story, a kid’s activity book, an Etsy store, and write a serious book while I work full time and prepare for company! ”
“I want to stop, sit, sip cocoa in silence, and melt into the peaceful night sky…”
Feelings like these can easily pass through me in a given week or sometimes even a given day. Sound familiar? I can resist who I am or just “be” it and allow the love to keep flowing through me. Option B always feels easier, and better, and leads to resurrection more quickly.
We are who we are, when, and where we are!
Sing that ten times quickly 🙂
Self-acceptance is a key to resurrecting your joy.
2. Remind Yourself – All experiences are temporary
I love a country song by Rodney Atkins called “If You’re Going through Hell.” It makes me laugh! He suggests you “just keep moving!” That’s sound advice! We are eternal but every problem we have is temporary.
If you have a fatal disease, it is temporary. Upon expansion, you’ll come into resurrection, life, and bliss as never before. If you have massive debt, it will eventually be handled. If someone has been horridly cruel to you, eventually you’ll let yourself “Turn the other cheek” and look away from such destructive behaviors towards better. Nothing is permanent… unless we cling to the problem. Even then, upon death, we surrender our resistance to feeling good, feeling God, and flowing love.
When times are tough, remember “this too shall pass,” and as the song says, “just keep moving. You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there!”
Do the most loving thing for yourself that you can think of. Think a thought that feels better… or, as in my case, appreciate the countertops!
3. Give yourself Permission feel good
If something upsetting has happened, the best thing you can do for yourself is to permit yourself to feel good again. We learned to stay in bad feelings until the problems disappear, but sometimes there’s no going back. Our loved ones probably won’t resurrect from the great beyond. We can’t go back to an old relationship. The money you lost is gone. We must accept our feelings first, but then the angels recommend we permit ourselves to feel good… or at least better.
The universe never keeps score. It only responds to your present vibration. So when something unpleasant happens, do something kind for yourself. Be extra compassionate with yourself.
Permit yourself to feel better, not because you’re waiting for life to improve, but because you want to create a better life.
I wish you all a blessed and Happy Easter if you celebrate it, a beautiful Passover, a deep and serene Ramadan, or simply a beautiful and blessed change of seasons.
May you feel a beautiful resurrection of joy in your own heart.
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