My husband had a terrible accident six weeks ago and has been recovering with baby steps back to health since. And, in this darkest time for our family, our community has been the light that shines through.
Like the vet who takes their time, not rushing your last moments with a beloved horse, or a fellow farmer taking time out of their busy day to help with an ailing goat, we have found such inspiration from friends, family, nurses, doctors and hospital staff who have helped us see the good in the world when so much has gone so bad. Most of us live under an illusion of what our future will look like. In fact, just like our farm animals — we have no idea what life will bring. What I know now is that good can come from seemingly bad times.
Tragedy has a way of clarifying priorities. In my past life, I’d get caught up in mundane chores, place priority in little things that weren’t moving the needle, and not taking time to appreciate the energy of every other human being I came into contact with. Now, I’ve been looking at everyone with whom I interact with love and appreciation. When I encounter people who are grumpy, mean or even indifferent, I try to look them in the eyes and shine a positive light back to them because I have no idea what is going on in their life. Just like strangers could have never guessed what’s been going on in my life for the past six weeks.
The same goes for animals. I had an old horse out in the front of the farm. Skinny and blind and at the end of his life, I let him live as long as I thought he was comfortable. For sure people made judgments based on his looks, but they had no idea how he was being cared for — that he was surrounded by friends, offered all that he wanted for food and drink and still was blind and skinny. Maybe we don’t know the full story of anybody’s life. So instead of judging people, we should just each shine a positive light out into the world and each day try to interact with someone in a way that will make their day better. There are already so many people out there in the world doing just this. They have surrounded me for the last six weeks, and they inspire me to be a better person.
Our family will recover from my husband’s accident. We’ll never be the same, that’s for sure. But maybe we’ll be better for it.