Looking into the distance, her gaze was fixed on me or at least that was the impression I had. She looked confused but it was as if she was having a chat with someone. Standing a few feet from her, I couldn’t really see her well, especially since her features were hidden by an oxygen mask. The young doctors standing in front of the little girl were joking, trying to cheer her up. Saddened by her condition, I just hoped she would get better fast and rushed to my own errands as I hate hospitals with a true passion. When I returned, I saw a woman crying heavily in a corner outside the ward. At the same time, a part of me felt that I would never see the little girl with the fixed gaze again. I didn’t know her name or age, but I’m pretty sure I will never forget her sleepy eyes. No… I will never.
Gratefulness to Greatness
Very often, famous gurus say that spending time at the cemetery is a good reminder of what life is worth. Having tried that and felt nothing special, I believe that the only place that can achieve such a thing is the hospital. Tears, cries, sobs, laughter, shouts, surrounded by all these, it’s impossible for anyone but a psychopath not to feel anything. However, humans, all of us, tend to forget quite easily and even more of us tend to not think enough about their lives so I’m writing this piece to remind myself and others to BE GRATEFUL.
However, humans, all of us, tend to forget quite easily
These times are dark and so many of us, the normal ones, are afraid. Yes, all of us, be it the ones locked behind doors, or even those out there pretending to not care because “evil always befalls their neighbors and not them”. We are scared, none of us wanna die but how many of us truly understand what dying or hurting means? How many of us are not presently obsessed with how much money is in their bank account or the fact that they are not married while all their mates are? How many of us don’t take time to think of the sick or the dead? How many of us are truly GRATEFUL FOR THE NOW and focus instead on petty issues? Not many I am sure of that and why is that? Well, most obviously because HUMANS ARE SELFISH BEINGS.
We don’t know how to be grateful and we have a good reason for that: It’s darn hard! Being grateful isn’t something to do once a week, a month, a year, and get back to our busy lives. Being grateful must be practiced, like a skill. Being grateful is not about saying an “empty prayer” in the morning, but rather about spending serious time to visualize our lives, what we have and what we have had (not the opposite), become aware that we are indeed better off than others, and then give thanks (in my case as a Christian or one who struggles to be one, I thank God). Be grateful.
Being grateful isn’t something to do once a week, a month, a year, and get back to our busy lives. Being grateful must be practiced, like a skill.
But what about those in hospitals or those who just lost someone precious to them (I would know how that feels considering that I lost four family members in two years) how can they have time to be grateful when they’re going through a difficult experience? I must be honest: I am presently not in the best place but I firmly believe it could be worse and I also believe that as long as I’m alive, things will be better. So yeah, it may be hard but being grateful gives a fresh perspective, it changes our inner energy and I’m one of those who believe that having positive inner energy lowers the odds for something bad happening to me. And when I’m at my lowest I recall this scripture of the Book of Proverbs in the bible that says: “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!”. Of course, I could quote a dozen other phrases from great self-help books but I don’t think it’s necessary.
“If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!” (Prov 24:10)
Don’t forget to be cheerful
Another thing that my encounter with the little girl brought back to my mind was a discussion I recently had with a friend of mine who had the feeling she was not “adult enough”. This, according to her, was because her mom thought her too playful and carefree. Why did I think about my friend during my time at the hospital? Well, it’s because it made me think of the fact that many of us often live our lives to please others, parents, friends, teachers, while forgetting that ultimately, just like the little girl, we’ll have a chat with Lady death. Life is a gift and it should be cherished. Being an adult does not mean being always stressed, worried, concerned — no, that’s being an adult zombie.
As I said, I’m not in a good place at the moment so I won’t go deeper but the two only takeaways of this piece are: Be grateful, be cheerful (even if that means you’re not being an adult). As for those of you who may not understand my title, this is the full version “Though the seas are raging, God is in control”.
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