Have you ever witnessed the scenery after an ice storm?

Mere words can’t describe the beauty; especially when the sun is shining and reflecting off the ice-covered tree branches. It’s like your own personal winter wonderland.

The one thing that amazes me is how so many people around me are totally oblivious to the beauty. They’re so bogged down with their own personal weight of the world they carry around that they don’t even “stop to smell the roses” so to speak. It’s such a shame that they miss out on the simple pleasures of life.

On my way to work the morning after a recent ice storm, I noticed how the trees and bushes were heavy with the weight of the ice. Some were bent down, others snapped under the pressure of the added weight. It was amazing to see.

It got me to thinking it’s a not much different with people. Some people get weighted down by the pressure of everyday life, and handle it just fine. They just bend a little but they handle it nonetheless. Others can’t bear the additional weight and snap under the pressure.

Here’s a picture of the tree across the street. Notice the limbs, full and upright. (I tried to resize the pictures but they didn’t fare so well - so I included the thumbnail picture as well.)

That’s how most people stand when everything’s okay. But how many people stand that tall and majestic when life gets them down? That’s where resiliance comes in.

Notice the same tree after the ice storm:

Notice how the once sturdy branches now bend under the weight of the ice - much like people bend with the various day to day pressures they bear. Sometimes they completely snap under the pressure (I didn’t get pictures of any of those I saw - had to be the safe driver, you know…)

As with anything else in life, it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to bend or break. The surefire way to make sure you have the resiliance to bounce back is through gratitude. No matter how stressed you are, if you just learn to stop and think what you’re grateful for in that very moment, and then really feel it (not just know it in your mind - really feel the gratitude) your stress becomes much more manageble.

Maybe not the first or second time you try this, but eventually you’ll realize how incredibly powerful this technique really is.

We all have our crosses to bear in this life, so it comes down to this question…

Will you bend or break?

The choice is yours.