“Our bodies and souls are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.”
— William Shakespeare —

I can’t help but smile as I drive around daily seeing the colorful, visual explosion of red bud trees, Bradford pears, azaleas, and all the glorious blooms of the season. With the exception of pollen, which is a necessary evil, this is my favorite time of the year. It’s when we all come out of our shells on Doldrums Lane and shake off the heaviness of winter to open up to the power of sunshine and nature. It is the time of year when growth likes to show out a bit, bloom fully and bask.

Ah. It almost appears that I am no longer talking about flowers, and indeed I’m not. I’m talking about personal growth—something just as beautiful and exciting as spring in full bloom!

I would say I’m not a quitter, but I am. It’s very hard to admit because
I’ve always prided myself on going the distance, above and beyond, do or die.
In thinking both ahead and behind of where I am right now,
it’s clear to see that I am indeed a quitter.
And, I’m sad about it. I always thought better of myself.

“You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: 'Did he have passion?'”
—Dean, from the movie Serendipity—

I wrote the following words, which somewhat turned into a poem about passion, several years ago. I had just come off of a weeklong trip of solitude and writing. In addition, I was enjoying newly found success in my weight-loss journey, as I fit into size-10 jeans, a huge improvement from the previous size18s. I felt alive and happy and I was filled with hope.

By now I hope your New Year’s resolution (NYR) is in full swing. If you’ve chosen weight loss
as your goal (which is the No. 1 NYR) you, like many, may have chosen the All or None Approach, because that’s just who you are. So obviously, you have managed to discard every cookie, popsicle, potato, rice, potato chip, pasta, bread slice and morsel of chocolate that you could find in your home. You have gone to the gym every day since January 2, and you are contemplating staring into the pantry to figure out how to make something deliciously sweet with a one packet of Sweet’n Low, apricot preserves someone gave you two years ago for Christmas, peanut butter and a high-fiber, low carb English muffin. You are living on the edge with your extreme plan that is sure to soon fail.

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”
—St. Francis de Sales—

When my son was in the fourth grade, his teacher told him, “Life’s tough. Get a helmet.” At the time I agreed. Life is tough, and we have to muscle through it, especially the tough times. That’s how I was raised—to get ‘er done no matter what. To a certain degree, I believe this to be true. In hard times, the strong get stronger. You have to in order to make it.