Life isn’t tied with a bow but it still a gift. ~Regina Brett
It’s still a gift.
Today has been one of those days. Is it Mercury in Retrograde? It could be weather, could be cancer, could be sixty. Could be life on planet earth being F’ing hard. I’m tired of gray. I want my shine back. And it appears that I am not alone. I hear from so many of you that we are in a “gray” season. Outside, and inside.
Last week, we got one of those sneak peeks into spring. I can’t remember the last time it felt like my soul could not be contained in this skin. SUNSHINE! Vitamin D might be the best medicine.
All that complaining to say that I never forget, even on my “over it” days, I never forget what a gift it all is. Every time I place my hands together in namaste, I remember to practice gratitude for ALL OF IT.
We can’t just be grateful for the bright shiny days, we need to cultivate the inner wisdom to find gratitude for the dark, the hard, the uncomfortable. It’s a mind bend. A reframe.
Cancer is a gift. Without it, I might have missed how much I am loved. I might have missed the reminder of the urgency of standing squarely in the center of my one wild and precious life. I might have missed the opportunity to hug my people harder, to linger longer and listen better. To pour myself into each class, each meeting, and each personal exchange I have had. Since June 21 when I got the news about my cancers’ return, I have not missed a single moment.
If there is one sentence I have said more than any other in my life as a teacher, it is this. “In this moment, we have our breath, we have a beating heart, and that is all we need to know that we are alive.” And that my friends, is a gift.
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