Day 175: Growth In Decay
It might be strange to hear, but we all decay in one way or another. Buildings and other human structures are not the only thing to crumble over time. Through broken hearts, sorrow, depression, and a litany of other reasons, our worlds have transformed from sunny skies to thick grey clouds. We have all become decaying buildings on the brink of disaster.
The paint of our heart chips away and the walls we built which were once strong and unsurpassable, crack from all the pressure placed on them. Fractures litter our surface and we sag under the weight of it all. The corners of our minds that were once swept clean collect dust and we can't help but pull the shutters down and close the door on the world.
Life can so easily leave a mark deep in our being. There are extremely heavy moments that we will have to face during our years walking this earth, it's unfortunate that we have to face difficulties, but it's part of it. And because we face these hardships and sorrows, we begin to decay just like the old abandoned buildings around us.
This decay might not be visible from the outside, but the rot and the brokenness is there. It creeps into our minds and across the surface of our heart, often effecting our view of the world. Making the future look quite bleak and forlorn. When we experience decay in our lives it can be hard to see past this awful and painful moment.
Yet in our brokenness there is a fountain of hope.
Even after everything we have been through, all the years of neglect and sorrow, we can still grow. We may have faced what seemed to be the very end of our lives or a disaster that completely changed the rest of our lives. However, there is still hope in knowing that from the decay we are given a chance of rebirth.
We may feel as if our very bones are rotting away within us, but we have not collapsed completely. Our walls may be sagging and the roof could have a few leaks, but the rubble is still distinguishable as a house. There is still time for life.
Our of our decaying bones will come the most beautiful blossoms of peace and happiness. Flowers will spring forth from our places of suffering, reminding us of how beautiful the world truly is. We may experience the worst of the worst, but the flowers will come and bring with them the feeling of hope. They will bring comfort to our aching hearts and the cracks in our walls will be the start of the most beautiful garden.
Nothing is ever quite finished and while there is still breath in our lungs, we need to remember to breathe. The flowers remind us that life is never as bleak as it can seem. While the world seems dark and hopeless, remember that hope lingers within our decaying hearts waiting for the surface to collapse far enough to let in the sunshine.
Our walls must come down in order for us to start again and when they do we will realize the end wasn't an ending at all. Endings are hardly just that. To call it an end is to only look at one side of the coin. We have to turn it over and realize there's something else waiting for us on the other side. It's the beginning.
We have our whole lives ahead of us and while we will experience the pain of decay more than we could imagine, there will always be growth afterwards. The rotting of our walls allows us to have room for the blossoms that will come and the holes in the roof let in enough light to nurture the flowers.
There is hope in pain. There is life in death. There is growth in decay.
Never give up on that hope.
Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt
Rotting wood crumbles, falling to pieces against the bleak earth. In that same place where the ground was once thought to be desolate, grow blossoms of the most incredible kind. Bringing with them the scent of rebirth and the hope of what is to come.