Indomitable Spirit

How easy it is to feel as if life is unfair, to get totally focused on how we’ve been hurt and feel as if the world needs to adjust to us because of it. And we hurt ourselves when we do that. As hard as it is, the best gift we can give ourselves is to let go of the “why me’s?” and focus on the “what’s next?”

I had an example of this over the past week. A dear, dear friend is fighting breast cancer. She went in for a double radical mastectomy on Friday. She came home, by choice, on Saturday! She wanted to be in her own home where she could be more comfortable and sleep better. She wanted to be home where it was easier to get up and move around—despite the pain.

And that’s the key—she wanted to do what needed to be done despite the pain because she knows that’s how she will give herself the best chance to recover, the quickest way to heal. She is in remarkable shape because she is willing to do so. She’s still in pain but she’s far ahead of where she would be if she had just lay in bed, telling herself she deserved to do so because it hurt so much.

For us, the pain may be psychological/emotional rather than or as well as physical. And yet the message, the lesson is the same. When we are willing to do whatever needs to be done to heal, we will. When we are willing to work through the pain knowing it will get us to a point where we do not hurt faster, we will heal. When we accept what is and go for what we want—given where we are starting now, then we will heal.

My hat is off to my friend and I am reminded again of the power of the human spirit. May we all find our own courage when it is needed, may we all find a way to do what needs to be done to heal.

Sending safe and gentle (((((((hugs))))))),

April_optimist