Bound and rebound.
Sarah Whitmire, PhD, LMFTS, LCMHCS
It’s been a rough month. Family. Work. Health. Layered with moments of feeling lonely, crying, and good ole fashioned rage runs to sweat out the anger. I’ve never been the type of person to feel sorry for myself, and yet I’ve been quite successful at throwing some great pity-parties this month - I’m confident my husband would give me a 5-star rating for them.
Have you ever experienced these moments in your life? You know, where the stressors keep adding on, and you hope that the next day will bring relief, but it just brings more disappointment and pain…and heartburn? Where life’s waves keep knocking you down – leaving you with sand and salt water in every orifice of your body – and all you want is peace and a paloma on the beach watching the sunset. But the peace doesn’t come - or the paloma! Then one day perspective enters your world once again while you’re watching a short film with your kids. Thank you, Pixar.
One of my favorite Pixar short films is “Boundin.” This film reminds me of life’s ever changing seasons – layers of peace and pain beautifully interwoven in a simple story about a sorrowful lamb and a hope-dealing Jackalope. To the little moping lamb, the Jackalope offers his wisdom: “Now sometimes you're up and sometimes you're down. When you find that you're down, well, just look around. You still got a body, good legs and fine feet. Get your head in the right place and hey! you're complete! … Bound, bound, bound and rebound!”
And that is life. Sometimes you’re up, and sometimes you’re down. Undoubtedly we prefer the “up” - but pain and peace are two sides of the same coin and the wise Jackalope reminded me of this. And I hope in writing these words, I can remind you of this too – that you will be ok in this “world of ups and downs.” And you will bound and rebound!
p.s. take 5 minutes today and watch Boundin’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkUi4qdZStQ