Last week I stood next to a very dear friend whose brother had died suddenly, and unexpectedly, at the young age of 64. In a few weeks I’ll be 64. Really made me think about a lot of things….
First, how important it is to simply be there when our friends need us. There is nothing for us to particularly do, just showing up is what really matters.
Second, how important it is to keep living fully, here and now, and make sure that the people we care about know that we love them, and that they matter to us.
She told me they had spent time with him in the hospital when they thought he was simply under observation and would be going home soon. Their whole family had gathered and sat around his bed talking and laughing with him. The next day, for some reason, his heart stopped and he couldn’t be revived. She felt so grateful that she and her family had been with him, enjoyed him for what became the last time.
At this moment, our world is racked with fear. The stock market is spiking and falling every other day. People are uncertain about their futures. We don’t know whom to rely on, whom to trust.
My only recourse is to trust myself, how I feel when I am with people. How I feel when I have something to choose or decide on. It seems that is my best gauge for continuing to move forward in the midst of such turmoil.
I watch Charlie Rose to see what the “experts” say about our economy, and they don’t seem any more certain than I do. None of us knows where this will all lead.
So I’m going to just keep loving–my life, my friends, my challenges and opportunities. I’m going to be there for the people that need me. I’m going to make sure I let people know how important they are to me. I am going to keep trusting that there is an order hidden within all this seeming chaos, because, thank goodness, I’ve seen many ups and downs in my 60-odd years of living, and we all seem to keep muddling through it somehow.
It just seems more doable when we all hold hands and keep going together.