This week has been one of immense highs and great lows. The highs I’ve learnt to enjoy, ride the wave and let go. I understand that like all things, this too is transitory. The lows, are a different matter all together! I’ve gone from fearing and been stressed about the lows, to actually welcoming them when I see them looming large on the horizon.
No one really wants to go through the troughs in life. The pain, the sorrow and the anxiety, those hard times bring. Then why this optimistic outlook in the face of some of life’s most difficult moments? Maybe because I have learnt that through some of life’s darkest hours come life’s greatest lessons and an expansion of the soul that you can never experience when things are smooth. I’ve had times when I’ve thought I couldn’t cope with more, I’ve been desolate and despondent and somehow, somehow, through all those times, I’ve found that I’ve come through stronger, more focused and strangely more at peace. I’ve loved myself more, forgiven myself and been surprised at the resilience of the human spirit!
It’s during such times that I’ve learnt the virtues of patience, prayer, selflessness, unconditional love and a faith in something much greater than our individual existences. This week there have been people in my life who are battling with having loved ones in a serious condition in hospital, another whose parent is terminally ill at home, someone else who’s facing an incredible low, and yet, through all these things, I see these people fully engaging themselves in life. Coming to work with a smile, being thoughtful of others, dealing with mundane, time consuming things and somehow making it through another day with hope and determination! I’ve also heard them speak of finding priorities, figuring out what matters and discovering strength they never knew they possessed.
{{/usCountry}}It’s during such times that I’ve learnt the virtues of patience, prayer, selflessness, unconditional love and a faith in something much greater than our individual existences. This week there have been people in my life who are battling with having loved ones in a serious condition in hospital, another whose parent is terminally ill at home, someone else who’s facing an incredible low, and yet, through all these things, I see these people fully engaging themselves in life. Coming to work with a smile, being thoughtful of others, dealing with mundane, time consuming things and somehow making it through another day with hope and determination! I’ve also heard them speak of finding priorities, figuring out what matters and discovering strength they never knew they possessed.
{{/usCountry}}During times like these I am grateful to the fourteenth-century mystic Julian of Norwich, the first female writer to be published in English, who reassured us that we are taken care of by a power greater than ourselves.