I was in my doctor’s office this week, and a new nurse-practitioner came in. I greeted her and asked about her new career. She made the most wonderful statement: “Being here has reignited me—I love this!” My doctor looked at me and said, “That is a great word.”
Reignite—meaning to ignite again. I thought about that on the way home and pondered many things. As we see on the news often, forest fires will reignite after firemen think they are out. There is a small ember somewhere underneath the rubble that keeps burning and eventually reignites into a full fire.
Our souls are a lot like that. For various reasons, our zeal for things in our life is dampened and many times extinguished. What causes this? I think discouragement, disappointment, failed attempts, hurt, or just the mundane ritual of something that gets very old. When we have been disappointed by something, it can take away our spirit. We are wounded, hurt, and sometimes damaged.
I have experienced that very thing this week. I have shared with you my love of gardening. We planted 50 roses in the spring, and I have lived in hopes of looking out and seeing this complete garden covered in blooms. This past week, we were trimming this horrible red leaf thing off some of them and realized something was wrong. Upon doing a little research, I discovered a disgusting rose disease called “witches broom” had completely infiltrated our garden. There is no cure, and the only remedy is to remove the plants from the garden and discard. As we pulled up some of my favorite roses, my heart was saddened. My fire for gardening has been dampened heavily. I need to be reignited, and maybe in the spring, something will reignite my love of gardening.
While losing roses is not a tragedy, we do deal with serious things that can take away our spirit—health issues, financial stress, loss of ones we love, and many more. Yet, there is always the hope of being reignited!
How do we reignite our inner soul again? Often, time just needs to pass. Then there will be a moment when we feel that inner ember is still there. And just like that—the ember will spark a fire. Something or someone in our life triggers that little spark, and we begin to be excited about things again. This beautiful nurse was reignited by the people she was working with and the patients with whom she served every day. She was surrounded by people that made a difference in her life.
When we hit a roadblock or are discouraged, do we surround ourselves with the people that bring a spark to our life? Every word we say can change a life. It can be the spark that changes another or reignites their soul to begin again. I have challenged myself to look for opportunities to say something encouraging to the people I encounter. Even the smallest of comments may make a difference, so let’s do it together!