It is Christmas. I don't have cancer anymore; I just deal with being mostly bald (I really don't care if people look at me cooky on the train), and occasional hot flashes (Kansas blizzards are awesome for relieving hot flashes in a hurry). And yes, I am particularly grateful for friends and family and being here to enjoy them again this year.
This Christmas I am much more aware of people who do have cancer, and other difficult medical conditions, or are just struggling with situations out of their control. I can't help but with a pang of empathy think of my friends from the chemo room who aren't done yet, and have to deal with so much more than hot flashes today. In the big picture time keeps going, and we mark the days and years, through whatever life may throw at us. We have no other choice, and sometimes we need a big holiday like Christmas to place our particular challenges into perspective, make us step back and compare this year to "normal" life. That awareness can be joyful, or really, really painful, or even somewhere in between.
I'm guessing most of this post is not new to you; it's the stuff you learn from growing older. The fact that it's more of a new thought to me is a testament both to my youth and general good fortune. I find the holidays a new kind of weighty in 2009, and this Christmas I am content and very, very blessed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Contentment is a commodity that is very underrated until it is absent. Contentment can be around for a significant amount of time and then gone. It is fleeting. Contentment can come when least expected and leave when most needed. Contentment is earned and once experienced is most missed. Contentment is not noticed in youth and is noticed when not there as we become older.
ReplyDeleteWhen I experience it now it is valued. I know I cannot trap it to keep it close. I know when it comes it will also go.
I value it above happiness and it has no price.
May you be content this season.