I’ve heard a succession of bad stories in the last few weeks.  Some awful things have happened to people I know {of}.   A sudden death of a woman from my safari travel group; a suicide of my close friend’s nephew; a stroke of someone (my age) in my community; a sudden serious illness of a blogging friend’s daughter.

After feeling the shock and overwhelming sadness, two things come to mind when I hear bad things – compassion and living well.

Our response to suffering must be compassion.  We must be there for each other, both in actions and words.   In this regard I am proud to say that my community exhibits this to the hilt.  When my daughter was critically ill, there were ongoing prayer services and meal deliveries for months while she was hospitalized.  .  This is done for everyone going through a trying time – be it illness, death, job loss.

Someone even loaned us a car to use for six months to travel up and back to the hospital when our second car had to be junked.  An unusual act of extreme kindness.

When I recall all the ‘angels’ who were there for us, I get re-charged in my motivation to extend myself and do good.

That bad and painful things happen is part of life; no one is immune.  That we be there for one another with empathy, compassion, goodness and service is the beauty in response to the ugly.  It must be there.

And it shows up tremendously after calamities.  After 9/11, after Hurricane Katrina, people felt a burning need to do something.  A sense of helplessness was deeply felt.  Volunteerism was at a high.  People dug into their half empty pockets because the need to give of oneself was so strong.

“There but for the grace of God go I.”  At any point in time we know it could be us, but we’ve been spared.  And so we feel and we give of ourselves to those in pain.

If these tragic halts in life aren’t reminders to live well while we can, then we’re missing out on a most valuable life lesson.   We don’t know when our time is up, what will be tomorrow.  We know all too well that life throws many curve balls way out of left field.  And so while we’re standing healthy and tall we need to live with intention, being consciously aware of how we’re living so we can give it our best.   We must spend our time in ways that are important to us and make decisions based on our priorities and values.   We need to take in the beauty and appreciate when things are going well.  We need to celebrate the good.

At the shiva (visiting the mourners) of my safari friend, her husband said so poignantly, “I can’t complain; I had her for 40 years.  Sure I would’ve wanted more time together but we certainly celebrated life together well.”

 

How are you celebrating your life?   

Thanks for popping by to read this.