The People Around Us

The images from Haiti pull at my heart, yet I feel so far away and mostly helpless. What can I do other than donate money and pray that relief reaches those who need it so desperately. My mind wanders to our friends whose little girl was recently diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that affects her muscles and could - probably will - already has - changed her life and the life of her family. I reflect on a recent conversation with a friend in which she shared some challenges and sorrows she holds mostly in her heart and rarely talks about. My mind reverberates back to a conversation last summer with another friend. After catching up, I asked how she survived a very difficult challenge in her life. And she said, "No one has the strength to handle something like this - you find it."

So sometimes when I walk through life I wonder - what battle is that person engaged in? Are they winning or do they feel like they're about to fall? Perhaps the greatest battles any one of us faces is fought and won or lost without most people in our life even knowing we were engaged in it. And because of that, I believe it most important to be patient with ourselves and others. We really don't have any idea what giants those around us are trying to slay. And slaying a giant isn't a quick thing; usually it takes time - lots and lots of time - years, really. When I feel discouraged, I like to look back over several years and see the ground I've gained. At that point, I pat myself on the back and keep fighting. And I remind myself to have compassion for people in my life, for at best and only if I'm lucky, will I catch a glimpse of the hurts, fears, and worries they carry around while acting like everything is just peachy. And then I secretly smile because I realize that I live around the best kind of heros. They are disguised as friends and family, but they are truly the mighty who keep doing their best despite opposing forces. And they are winning the war.