Day 249 - Courage, Caring, Connection and Meaning

My daughter with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome is an incredible teacher. She has taught me what it means to be courageous and open hearted. Imagine how much courage it takes to live every single day of your life completely reliant on others for your very survival. My daughter trusts that her needs will be met, her questions answered, and she expects that she will be loved. As a matter of fact, I think she gets a little surprised when someone doesn't take care of what she needs, because the people in her life have been trustworthy - and I'm not just talking about her family. She is loved and liked and tended to and made to feel that she is capable and wonderful - because she is. In her own way she makes a contribution to the soul growth of all of us - we learn patience, tenderness, compassion, and a host of other skills just in taking care of her social, emotional and medical needs. She lives a life of caring and demonstrates a connection to others that is free, open and trusting. My daughter never meets a stranger.

 

Just like my daughter, I want to focus on a life with meaning and connection.  It doesn't matter that I spend a good part of my life on the couch and out of commission, I want to be a source of joy, love, inspiration, comfort, compassion, connection and healing. I want my words to be a balm for another's pain or a source of caring and friendship. I want my experiences to be a reminder that we all have our journey and that we are in this together. I want to be a soft place to land for someone who needs a willing listener.  When someone needs to give voice to their joy, sorrow, pain or confusion, I want to be on the receiving end, listening and caring. I want to live a life of meaning in my family, my work, my community and through my choices. I know that my experiences are not unique, but I also know that we are all connected in deep and mysterious ways and I want to live that mystery and watch it unfold before me. I know that there are others who suffer far more than I do and our shared experience can lift us up from our despair into healing. I want my life to be about the rising above and the moving through - not about the being stuck or feeling hopeless. I want to move forward with faith and confidence.

 

Each of us brings gifts that no other shares - my daughter does, I do and you do. We are unique and brilliant beings who are here together to live our lives in fullness and abundance. Where there is lack, we can shine the light of love and there will be prosperity. Where there is pain, we can respond with compassion and ease  suffering. Where there is joy we can multiply the happiness by sharing and celebrating it with each other. Even in the midst of pain and challenge there is enormous good in our lives. The negatives can easily overtake what's positive if we let our thinking shift in that direction. Sometimes our unhappiness, pain and frustration blind us to our own highest good. I wonder sometimes where will I possibly get the energy to do all that I wish to do that gives my life meaning. What I realize every time is that I need to redefine what I want to do and then find a way to do my best. It is what my daughter does every single day and if she has the courage then I can ask no less of myself.