In an effort to complete one of my goals this year, I have been trying to read more. I used to read 30-40 books a year. But in the last 3-4 years, that number has been dramatically reduced and replaced with work and kids. But that is ok...for now. However, I did set a goal to get about 12 books read this year. I have one under my belt and have begun my 2nd. I am reading Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue".
My four readers out there may have mixed feelings about Sarah, but I must admit...I like her. I think that she is the real thing. She has been like a breath of fresh air for me in the political world. It is quite refreshing to know that not EVERYONE has been sucked into believing the lies that come out of Washington every day. And I truly believe that she has been persecuted from every angle since taking a conservative stand against mainstream politics. The media has dug their heels in to try and smear this lady...but to no avail. Truth WILL stand in the end...sometimes I lose sight of this fact myself.
But I am not writing this post to talk about Sarah or politics, but about a paragraph that jumped out at me in her book. I have posted lately on a couple of different occasions about how hard it is to go on enjoying my seemingly good life while so many others around me are struggling and facing the hardest battles of their lives. How do I continue on in my nice, neat little organized life while it seems that everyday I hear of another cancer diagnosed, another marriage broken, another child who has strayed from home, another country devastated by natural disaster, another mother whose son/daughter was killed defending my freedoms.
Sarah was telling a story about her father's good friend who was a dentist. He had an accident that resulted in having his right arm amputated.
When Dad took the phone call, he found out that the physicians had to
amputate Doc's right arm. I'll never forget the stricken look on Dad's face.
I could see that he was crying. I had never seen him cry before. Until then, I
remember our family life being pretty idyllic. No real tragedies. No deaths
among close family. After Doc lost his arm, Mom and Dad explained to us that
every family goes through struggles and times of testing. "We haven't really
been through that yet," Mom said in a gentle warning. That
scared me at first. But then she comforted me, saying, "Maybe our challenge
will be to help other families who do." For me, that conversation laid the
foundation that you help other people. That everyone has a struggle and that
WHEN you don't, you comfort and support those who do. Plato
said it well: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a
hard battle." The conversation also warned me to not take our comfort
for granted.
Be kind today...you just never know...
1 comment:
Thanks for posting this. I have been dealing with the same thing lately. Every time I turn around I hear about someone going thru a tough time. We have friends that are going thru a really hard time with two of their daughters. So it has been on my mind a lot in the last week or two.
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