The past few years have been brutal one way, or another. Just as I thought, I, we, or all of us, overcame one obstacle, or another, a freaking bigger, badder, meaner, more intense one came! All while other ones were still staying strong and standing firmly! One crazy hit after the other. Bam! Bam! Bam!

I mean at one point didn’t you start halfway jokingly say, ‘next up… Zombies? Godzilla? Aliens? God? Any, or combo of?’ We were all thinking it. Yeah, we would giggle or laugh about it, but in the back of our heads, seriously wonder, what’s next?

Of course, you still had the ‘naysayers’ who had one new conspiracy after another. Or, the ‘people in full blown denial’. You know, the people who just flat out refused to believe the existence of these very real events, and happenings, that were or are taking place in real time.

It felt like first we were circling in the pot, hoping for it not to boil, all while the counter was close by. Then the skillet appeared, and we were like ‘whoa, what is this?’. In an instant, it felt like life threw out the pots and pans, next up…get in the oven. Hell, life became so gruesomely intense, our dumb asses sought out jumping into the open pit flame of fire. We were falling just short of Atomic Heat, starting to wonder if Nuclear Heat was possible. Were we head in record speed, directly into the Sun. Are we destined to be burnt to extinction like Icarus?

Damn if it didn’t feel like we were pretty close at times. Returning to atoms as we disintegrate head toward the sun. Even now, there are some days you seriously gotta wonder.

Yet, through it all, we were and are surviving. Through all the ups, downs, and crazy in betweens. Some of us didn’t make it, and we lost some beautiful souls. But, those of us that did, we need to live by this mantra, ‘rise up out of the fire, and be the damn fire!’.

AMEN TO THAT!

All that being said, I came across this in my LinkedIn Page Feed from Arianna Huffington, CEO at Thrive. It’s an inspirational quote by Colette Weeden. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!

“It’s OK if you fall down and lose your spark,. Just make sure that when you get back up, your rise as the whole damn fire. ” – Colette Werden