There is so much I have learned about my town in Boulder Colorado. We are all in the midst of recovering from the impact of the flood that took belongings, homes, businesses and lives from many people.
What you learn from going through something like this is the amazing resilience that lies within each of us.
Resilience. It comes from the latin word resili, which means to spring back, rebound. It is defined as the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like; buoyancy or elasticity. (dictionary.com).
Wow! Thats the truth. We all have that strength and capacity to bounce back. Get up when the situation has pushed us down. We don’t see or test that within ourselves unless we go through a trauma or unexpected event. Hurricane Sandy, Katrina victims and so many other devastating storms have destroyed what we have and what we have identified ourselves with until it’s just…gone.
This is also the time to reflect on what’s important in our lives. Our family, friends and communities. Neighbors have come together to help out, support one another, take in evacuees or just to hold us while the tears of sadness and loss take over.
It’s overwhelming but we will get through this! This is a time to be patient with ourselves and open up our hearts to those less fortunate. Even those who may have had no damage to their homes can feel the heightened stress, anxiety and grief that so many are experiencing. So many are feeling a heavy heart from friends that have suffered great losses and watching their beautiful community change overnight and become a national disaster area.
But it’s resilience that will allow us to look back later and ask, “Where were you when the 100-year Boulder flood happened? ” We will each have our own stories to tell and we will be much stronger from it.
Hang in there Boulder! I am so proud to be a part of this community…