What would you do
if someone you loved told you that s/he
had less than six months…six weeks… six days to live? Now imagine if that
someone was a close parent, a sibling, your best friend. How would you react?
Would you sob uncontrollably and immediately give up on hope? In a recent
online news story, one woman received shocking news that her mother was
dying of an aggressive cancer. Now equipped with this new revelation, she had
to act fast to fulfill a dream of hers. She could have put her life on hold and
lost herself in sorrows. Instead, within 24 hours, she and her fiancé put
together a wedding so her mom could see and hear her say, "I do."
We are all faced with
life-altering events that leave us shell-shocked and reeling with emotional
pain and sorrow. No two events are alike, and no two people have the same
reaction to similar events. The difference, however, is finding the inner
strength to not only come to terms with a particular event -- but to evolve
past the sorrow and to transform an event into something extraordinary. The
story above where a budding young bride was told by doctors to have her
wedding, "tomorrow" must have been a major blow. Her altruistic story
is one that needs to be told and retold.
Too many times, individuals
fall into a vicious cycle of self-sorrow and anger. In doing so, you may miss
the vital opportunity to transform yourself into a higher state of consciousness
and responsiveness. I get that because it is not easy to quickly find this
degree of courage and strength; especially in the face of such adversity. The
hard truth is that life will put you to the test with many ups and downs. You
will come into contact with people and events in your life that may catch you
off guard, but you cannot allow these situations to destroy you. From these
events, you must nurture your authentic self. You do so by finding creative ways
to cope and change how you react to life's circumstances.
Each and every day, there
are profound stories of human tragedy and how people have taken this tragedy
and transformed it into something positive and beautiful. It is through these
inequities in life that we create extraordinary results. Ultimately, you are
the driver of your emotions and your reactions. You have to choose whether or
not you want to live each moment as if it were your last. This does not mean
you should live your life recklessly -- rather, you should embrace and relish
in every moment that you have.
In the end, life is
entirely too short to dwell on all the negativity you may have experienced
along the way. Instead, your life should be lived as if you were on a journey.
The road you take today may not be the same one you take tomorrow; but you will
cross that bridge when you get there. Live, love and embrace every opportunity
to be compassionate, to be truthful, to be loving and genuine. Turn your
sorrows into extraordinary because you only have one life to live.
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