Honey, cut yourself some slack.
Give yourself a break. Ease up already.
Whatever it is, stop it.

Instead, get yourself outside.
Look around. Spring is putting on
her annual fashion show, and it’s
a doozy. Just yesterday, you zoomed
by a bush of exploding rhododendrons
spreading lavender like confetti.

They don’t last long, the rhodies
or the hot pink azaleas, before
their quick end, though, yes, more
blossoms will likely show up again
this season.

But take a minute or ten and walk
around and appreciate them now,
the show-offy flowers, the mini fans
sprouting from the slender ginkgo
that will golden and drop by
Thanksgiving.

Like the ginkgos and sycamores
and oaks slumbering all winter,
building up energy to push out
eye-popping chartreuse baby leaves,
you’ve been resting, too.
As you should.

Here—let me help lift you off your
own back. Carrying all those
woulda shoulda couldas
is exhausting, isn’t it?

Enough castigation. Self-flagellation’s
not all it’s made out to be. Let’s take
a walk, my friend, feel our lungs expand
with fresh breath, and watch Spring
strut her stuff on the runway.

Let’s be an appreciative audience,
applaud her flowery excess and marvel
over such creative energy that—with
no help from us—magically fuels
our own.