Peaks and Valleys

I had my oldest brought into my office during breaks when she was nursing. It was the only scheduled feedings that she got...even that challenged me. Helping your daughter and her baby maintain that bond will be worth the effort...you already know that though.

I have friends...they are a military family...
husband/father is deployed now...he's my age
wife/mother stayed home to keep the family together
3 daughters...all military...
one has served 2 years in the middle east with a young daughter here at home...Dad's not in the picture...stays with her grandmother and uncle
one's a pilot...is away on a training mission now...young son at home with his Dad (the one who's taking care of his niece as well)
2 sons...one military and one an actor...best friends with my daughter#2.
They are a true family.
They watch each other's backs...unconditionally.
They have family arguments...sisters who fight over clothes, etc.
But each one of them will drop anything to help another family member.
I watch them...and so want to know their secret.
They have been through their ups and downs...and yet still support each other...
and understand what family really means...
just knowing them makes me hopeful.

I have to say this about suffering...
to know something you must know it's opposite...
to appreciate and know joy...you must experience sadness and loss
to appreciate and know love...you must experience loneliness and hatred
to appreciate and know peace and comfort...you must experience suffering

Pain...loss...loneliness  are part of the human condition...as are peace...joy...love...acceptance.

I don't relish the painful, dark moments/periods...but they are part of the cycle of my life.
I don't cling to them...just as I can't cling to the joyous/Light filled periods...
they simply cycle through my life.

I have known people who chase ecstatic experiences...
of course from a spiritual journey point of view...
I call them the "Mary Chasers" (no disrespect to Mary)...
They spend their life trying to outdo their previous spiritual experience...jumping from peak to peak without ever traveling into and through the valleys...
I have learned as much from the valleys as I have from the peaks...maybe more so...
they have taught me compassion and empathy...
they have taught me humility...
they have taught me that there truly is "that of God within" each person, animal, being that I meet...
They have taught me that I cannot journey alone...I need to reach out at difficult times...
admit that I really am not self-sufficient...

I have a friend who asked me advice about his romantic troubles...
he told me that he is attracted to independent women, but they always leave him...
Independent women are independent because they have been hurt so badly in their life that they cannot allow them self to need or rely on another human...no matter what.
Of course they leave...that's what they're groomed to do.
He needs to ask himself why he is looking for women who are that badly hurt...
sorry I digress.

To finish the earlier thought...
Suffering is not about a "lamb being led to slaughter" without a fight or escape attempt...
it is about growing in all situations...
not losing hope...
trusting when it seems that there is nothing to hold on to...
and if that enlightenment occurs during the dark times then they truly were productive "dark nights of the soul".

I love you.
Light and Blessings on this New Year's Eve,
Maggie