Many of us feel like we are simply going through the motions with our lives. We are so embroiled with our day-to-day activity that we fail to consider there might be a big picture. We don’t see ourselves acting proactively to anything. Instead, we may feel like we are constantly reacting to our environment. We may even feel like one of those shiny silver balls bouncing off rubber coated bumpers inside a pinball machine, tossed around from side to side until our ball falls between the paddles at the bottom.
We have had bad things happen to us. Some of those bad experiences were self-inflected, but just as many befell us through no fault of our own. The bumper sticker “Shit Happens”, while funny the first time we saw it, we sadly found out was based in reality.
And yet, through all those things, once the bullets had stopped flying overhead; we took stock of our situation and realized we were alive and fully capable to do battle another day. And in that moment, we learned that we were stronger than we thought.
My faith kicks in at this point and says to me that those things that occurred in my life were God’s teachable moments with me. For in those moments I gained far more than I lost. We humans rarely learn anything when life is going along swimmingly. We are too egotistical. We think that we earned the good things. We deserved those things…and therefore, we got those things. Ah, but when we don’t win…when life kicks us to our knees, the agony of those moments causes us to do some serious self-reflection to avoid ever feeling that pain again. In those moments when we scrape ourselves off the pavement, and wipe the blood from our brow, the real learning takes place.
We learn to be humble. We learn that not every time we give it our best, do we come out victorious. Learning that bad things do happen to good people allows us to have empathy towards others. Anytime we can learn to hold back judgment, and offer up a helping hand instead, we are far better for it.
Life is about learning to connect the dots. I have given up believing in random. Perhaps I just have an overactive imagination, but I see key people throughout my life as being placed there…not by chance, but for a purpose. I see events in my life as building blocks upon which I can grow in my humanity. I am not egotistical enough to believe that these things happen to just me. I know they happen to everyone. We just need to be silent at times to see God’s plan for our life.
Each of us is a very powerful force in the universe.
Having been knocked down ourselves, we can offer encouragement for another to get back up. Having suffered heartbreak, we can offer comfort to someone who finds the pain unbearable. Having suffered despair and the loss of loved ones, we can show others that the sun will shine again and that the warmth of that light will make the pain not completely go away; but fade enough so we can begin to live again. Having had someone comfort us along the way, we run towards another in need, and not away.
The converse is also true. If we are not careful, we can let our defeats become our reasons for being bitter and hateful. We can be a curse to all those we encounter. Instead of lightening another’s load…we can pile on, and perhaps relish in the fact of knowing that our straw was the one that broke the camel’s back.
I’d like to sum this up with the following…
The Story of the Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside all people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other wolf is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humanity, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The grandson thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed.”
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