So the spring equinox supposedly arrived for us living in the northern hemisphere on March 20th this year, marking it as the first official day of ‘spring.’ However, for those of us living on the east coast, it hasn’t quite felt like spring this past week. When it comes to weather changes we can usually deal with the clichéd ‘April showers bring May flowers’ notions, and even March’s infamous reputation that it ‘comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,’ because we’re hopeful that the next beloved season is right around the corner.  But with temperatures in the 40’s and flurries impeding on morning commutes this past week, it appears that spring has decided to abdicate its duties (at least for the time being). Not quite what we expected so far, right?

Ok, now the weather has been increasingly unpredictable over the years due to a number of factors and elements so it’s not a total surprise that our desired seasons don’t occur quite how we hope. But it further highlights this notion that sometimes what we expect to happen doesn’t quite match reality; and this becomes the continued barrier we encounter and struggle with through all phases of life. We know that life itself and the day to day can be very erratic—with varying degrees of triumphs or defeats, but when additional factors are added to the mix it can be even more challenging to match expectations to reality. No one holds the expectation that they will become ill or be diagnosed with a chronic illness, so again reality doesn’t match up at times.

When expectations aren’t met and life continues to generate its own agenda-not taking into account how you feel about it, this can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming. So when this happens, what can you do? How can adjustments be made or things tweaked so you’re not getting constantly knocked down or totally thrown off course when life throws a wrench in your plan? You can PUSH BACK. Now this can be very much easier said than done sometimes, but how else can you let life know that you’re still very much a part of it even though it may not be what you expected? And this doesn’t have to look a certain way. Each person has their own unique personality and attitudes and the ability to use and embellish character strengths to the exponential degree. You demonstrate resilience and take control over how you react to changes you encounter. You work on showing life how its changes will work around you and your needs, not the other way around.

Again, this is not an easy thing to do. It can be devastating when life doesn’t work out the way we hoped and expected it to. But this is where there can be strength in numbers-where people can reach out to others for support and find hope. Learning what others have done to overcome a situation, where they’ve found their strengths and how they’ve pushed forward can be incredible assets to embrace. Everyone has experienced moments where reality doesn’t happen like we expected, but we find ourselves together in that, and once again surrounded by potential hope.