Getting the Lowdown

I've got some friends in low places these days, people for whom life is a wrenching challenge.  Their daily slogs are riddled with death and grief, illness, financial struggles and deep fear for the lives their children may face.  I suspect that, for many of these friends, the very idea of 8 hours of restful sleep is as fanciful as the belief that rubbing a lamp will bring them three wishes.

And still, they manage to get out of bed each morning.

Yeah, I know some exceptional people.

Granted, they are exceptional, in part, because of their willingness to find a way through each of these difficult days.  In the midst of it all, I am sure that they have their moments when they feel the bitter taste of envy for those whose days are marked by couch time and Netflix marathons.

But our lives--at their best--are not defined by bed sores and boredom--the beaten-down batting that fills a humdrum stretch of life lived on calm seas.  Ironically, the person each of us really is emerges at those times when our lives seem the most muddled.  It is in those difficult times when we find ourselves hoping that we can hang on long enough to come out the other end and appreciate our new, finely-defined edges of strength and hope and character.

Me?  I suppose I've finally become that cheerleader I long ago used to joke about becoming.  And my job these days is to get off the couch long enough to help nudge my friends' feet to the floor each morning.  From there, my friends once again face that Great Unknown, but maybe--just maybe--today will be the day when hope overtakes weariness, and calm seas once again seem like a real possibility.