Reflections From a Country Girl

At the end of the day I often stop to ask myself what or who has inspired me that day.  I most often find myself attached to one or more experiences that touched me in some way during those 24 hours.   

There are those of my friends and family who – when asked what stood out that day – find little to be inspired about.  For them I am sad, because often they grab hold of daily events that drain the life out of them, make them yearn for “ the good ole days” or who revisit unresolved issues day after day with no resolution.  

We all know life events can take our pizzaz away quickly.  After all, life is full of “the good, the bad and the ugly” as Clint Eastwood would say in that good ole 1966 western named the same.  We process things in different ways and some of us have a hard time letting go of those things.  Sometimes we obsess about them or worry about what might happen so much that, at the end of the day, we are exhausted from it all. Some of us can’t even eat or sleep because we worry about things so much. 

I have friends – Chris and Barbara – that have been living at the hospital on and off for the last three months.  He is dying and she is determined she will be with him all the time.  We see how sick he is. We see how tired she is.  We hear how exhaustion is taking it’s toll.  Their courage has been amazing to watch.

 

I have, through all that is going on with them, been inspired.  The other day she called and wanted me to help her find someone who could decorate his hospital room in his favorite things.  Through the help of friends she was able to quickly accomplish that.  I visited the other day and was awestruck at how the room spoke of him…large blown up pictures of him as a younger and more vibrant man with his favorite fishing equipment and pictures of the family members he loves and cherishes. 

I was unexpectedly inspired yesterday evening by a young man, Leonard, who worked with me for over three hours to help fix a computer and I Phone issue.  He carefully and thoughtfully was able to work with me for that long because of his patience, and his passion for his work.  I had worked with a few others before who simply did not have the drive to problem solve that Leonard did.  It showed and I was VERY appreciative of that.  If all our young people had the drive Leonard does the world would be a better place. 

My wish for you today is that you embrace life with the passion and drive of people like Leonard, Chris and Barbara.  If you do, you just might inspire others and maybe even be inspired by others, too. 

~ Joellen

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 4:20:pm and is filed under illness, Life & Events, Living Life to the Fullest, The Joy of Serving Others. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.