Today is December 26 and the day of my first blog ever! I have been thinking and planning to do this, but I had thought I would start perhaps New Year's Day. There are some events over the past several days that inspired me to start today.
My daughter, Cara, loves Christmas. She loves Christmas music and has a special ipod just to house her Christmas music. She loves the Christmas shows and the lights and the festive atmosphere...and just all of it. I must admit that I have always been much like her. Sometimes I lose the spirit to to stress and a to-do list a mile long. She always breathes it back into me again. Not everyone derives such joy from the holidays and for some it is a lonely time and a time of longing for happier days. I think that sometimes amidst the shopping and rush and bustle and parties and baking we tend to forget that some people are hurting.
I called my sister-in-law a couple of days ago to ask a holiday question. She shared with me that my nephew's good friend had taken his life just two days before Christmas. This tragedy had shaken their entire family. Here was a young man , described by my sister-in-law as full of life and love. This was a boy that she would never have predicted to end his life. But here was a young man whose life seemed to hold promise and love to the rest of the world, but who felt that he had only one option. He wrote to his family that he had to go...it was no one's fault ..but he had to go. My nephew struggles to understand why, this boy's family struggles to understand why. We may never know...but we beat ourselves up that we didn't look a little deeper into him....maybe we could have said or done something that could have changed the course of events,
Today my daughter, Alyssa, and her boyfriend broke-up. They had been best friends who made that dangerous leap to the next level. It has been a relationship that has been a little like a roller coaster ride. Today the young man told Alyssa that he missed the friendship. They should have never have started dating and he wanted his best friend back. Alyssa who loved him as a best friend and has loved him as a boyfriend is heartbroken and trying to work out how she can rewind...or redefine the relationship.
I think of my co-worker, Fran, who has lost her father,husband, mother and now her son.
We are all going through something. Just below the surface there is pain, uncertainty, insecurity, fear...as we try to navigate these roads of life...with no gps in sight. I am just feeling like I am getting back to being me after my separation and some pretty dark and uncertain days. It has been such a struggle. The woman who is standing behind us in line may be rude, but who knows what hurt she is bearing. The teen that is rebellious may be looking for acceptance and love. I need to remember that what you see is not necessarily what you get. Life is hard. We need to look a little further and care enough to spend a little extra time showing love and kindness. I will try not to pass judgement. I will try to be forgiving. I will try to be understanding even if I am not in the mood. Because...I may never know when someone is in pain. Maybe I can only give a smile for a momentary release of the burden...or maybe that smile and that outstretched hand will lead to something more.
My daughter, Cara, loves Christmas. She loves Christmas music and has a special ipod just to house her Christmas music. She loves the Christmas shows and the lights and the festive atmosphere...and just all of it. I must admit that I have always been much like her. Sometimes I lose the spirit to to stress and a to-do list a mile long. She always breathes it back into me again. Not everyone derives such joy from the holidays and for some it is a lonely time and a time of longing for happier days. I think that sometimes amidst the shopping and rush and bustle and parties and baking we tend to forget that some people are hurting.
I called my sister-in-law a couple of days ago to ask a holiday question. She shared with me that my nephew's good friend had taken his life just two days before Christmas. This tragedy had shaken their entire family. Here was a young man , described by my sister-in-law as full of life and love. This was a boy that she would never have predicted to end his life. But here was a young man whose life seemed to hold promise and love to the rest of the world, but who felt that he had only one option. He wrote to his family that he had to go...it was no one's fault ..but he had to go. My nephew struggles to understand why, this boy's family struggles to understand why. We may never know...but we beat ourselves up that we didn't look a little deeper into him....maybe we could have said or done something that could have changed the course of events,
Today my daughter, Alyssa, and her boyfriend broke-up. They had been best friends who made that dangerous leap to the next level. It has been a relationship that has been a little like a roller coaster ride. Today the young man told Alyssa that he missed the friendship. They should have never have started dating and he wanted his best friend back. Alyssa who loved him as a best friend and has loved him as a boyfriend is heartbroken and trying to work out how she can rewind...or redefine the relationship.
I think of my co-worker, Fran, who has lost her father,husband, mother and now her son.
We are all going through something. Just below the surface there is pain, uncertainty, insecurity, fear...as we try to navigate these roads of life...with no gps in sight. I am just feeling like I am getting back to being me after my separation and some pretty dark and uncertain days. It has been such a struggle. The woman who is standing behind us in line may be rude, but who knows what hurt she is bearing. The teen that is rebellious may be looking for acceptance and love. I need to remember that what you see is not necessarily what you get. Life is hard. We need to look a little further and care enough to spend a little extra time showing love and kindness. I will try not to pass judgement. I will try to be forgiving. I will try to be understanding even if I am not in the mood. Because...I may never know when someone is in pain. Maybe I can only give a smile for a momentary release of the burden...or maybe that smile and that outstretched hand will lead to something more.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battlePlato
Plato
