When we feel tired and low-spirited, chances are that we’re way more vulnerable to slings and arrows, slights and hurts, those small things that when we’re feeling good bounce off us as though we were a firm rubber ball. It’s not possible to always feel strong, confident, and cheery. How can we make ourselves less vulnerable at those other times? One way, I’ve found, is not to engage. Our tendency is to defend, explain, point out, and share our feelings when we’re enraged or hurt. It doesn’t always help—sometimes the misunderstanding can escalate into a permanent chasm. Today I’m going to try to feel like a thistle. To feel as light as a thistle. To remember our spiritual connection rather than our personal one. Thistle has a gentle strength, that strengthens our heart, and encourages us to trust our heart, no matter how tender it feels. Thistle helps us to know when to speak our truth and when to withdraw. It reminds us to wholly forgive ourselves, to wholly respect ourselves. It helps us to see with the clarity and focus of the spirit realm when the mundane or personal seems too confusing. It reminds us to trust life—and to trust ourselves completely.
