REALITY MEASURES
Saturday, December 10, 2022
When time and life give us surprises, joyous or tragic, they stay with us and offer an instant replay anytime we want. We can’t prepare for them – other than being sound in both body and mind, ready and unafraid of what might happen next.
And then, what happens next, actually happens.
Surprise, without alarm, most of the time, because events large and small that stun us or sting us show up like ants at a picnic – they are inevitable, just not predictable.
And we don’t have to scratch our heads to remember them either – they arrive.
Reality hits us and shows up when it wants to, not on our schedule or at our convenience.
No appointment is required, nothing we haven’t heard of, but these surprise events show up when they happen – sometimes we accept or deflect, sometimes we block or run to avoid – they show up just the same. Things that used to work but don’t anymore. Body parts that never hurt until they do. Body parts that don’t work like they used to. Business processes that don’t work anymore – and we wonder if they ever did.
No prior booking, nothing in the schedule – life’s most exciting moments show up unannounced, and they cause everything else to stop like someone stopped the hands on the big clock. The other day a friend got a call about something sudden and unexpected about a family member’s health.
We all have memories – those moments when our kid got sick, or needed stitches, or when someone needed a rush trip to the emergency room. These startling moments measure the extent of our character – our patience, our kindness, and our inadequacies. Most of us rise to the occasion when called upon, but we fear that one day we won’t be able to or that we won’t measure up.
Yes, measure us, tell us who we are, what we can handle, and remind us what matters most, what scares us too …
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