“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiting. Is this a key? Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”
— May Sarton
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“Does anything in nature despair except man? ... Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.” 🌿 When life feels overwhelming, remember that healing is a natural rhythm, much like the changing seasons. How do you find strength and resilience during your hardest moments? Share your thoughts below. 👇
About this quote
In the quiet depths of our hardest moments, it often feels as though the weight of our despair is an anchor, pulling us deeper into a sea of hopelessness. May Sarton reminds us that humans are perhaps the only creatures who dwell in the tragedy of their situation, while the rest of nature simply focuses on the act of survival. This quote serves as a gentle invitation to shift our perspective—to stop fighting the reality of our pain and instead embrace a state of 'still, intense waiting.' By focusing on the immediate, small steps of survival, we find the strength to endure the unthinkable. To 'imitate the trees' is to accept the necessity of loss. Just as a tree must shed its leaves in the winter to survive and bloom again in the spring, we too must learn to let go of what no longer serves us to make room for recovery. The most profound truth offered here is the impermanence of suffering; psychic pain, no matter how suffocating, is not a permanent state. It is a season. By sitting through the storm and trusting the natural rhythm of healing, we discover that peace is not found by avoiding the pain, but by letting it pass through us until we are light enough to rise again.
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Photo by Y M on Unsplash
