I love the phoenix, an amazing mythological figure that garnered the strength, rising from the ashes when everyone thought it was dead and gone. I feel much like that. There have been more times than I care to say I have felt defeated by life, by love, by unrealized dreams, and possibly by unrealistic expectations. We tend to believe that others can and will give, do and be as we are. Not so. Truly, some are not capable, others not willing, and  ultimately we are each our own, if I may use a slight pun; our own rare birds. We don't need to be and do everything as others do, uniqueness is a lovely thing!

This symbol became prophetic for me just over 6 years ago when some major changes started in my life that I did not deal with well, and as a result started a catastrophic turn of events in my life that left me broke, broken, homeless and alone.Our actions and reactions make all the difference as to how long we stay down if life knocks us down, and if we get back up. Stop being a victim! Stop blaming others! We can be our own worst enemy by wallowing.

Life can mess you over sometimes. We have a choice to recoil, strike back become faithless, lazy, discouraged and bitter or we can rise up like the Phoenix. It is time to take inventory and responsibility for our own part in how we may have come to sit in those ashes. It is also time to stop playing the blame game, it really doesn't matter, what matters is if we stay in those ashes or rise. I myself have chosen to rise.

We are each called to greatness in our own arena, whether large or small, and we must get to it, there our people out there who need us.