Life intruding's life
You say to me:
I’m so sorry your life is on hold.
.
And how easy it is to think this way
when things happen
that we don’t expect.
.
But life intruding on life
is life.
.
The things that distract us.
That demand our attention.
Keep us up at night.
.
The things we never chose.
That we can’t control.
We don’t want.
.
The unplanned.
The inconvenient.
The heart-breaking.
.
We say: it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
We say: it’s not fair.
We say: Why me?
.
But the obstacle is the way.
It will be, whether we like it or not.
.
Our only responsibility is our 'response-ability':
Our capacity to choose not what happens
but how we respond.
.
Life intruding on life is life.
All we can do is live it.
.
Not as we thought it would be.
Or as it was supposed to be.
.
But as it is.
.
And this
is my life.
.
Here
with you.
.
Til death do us part.
Previous > On Coping #15: The missing piece | Next > On Coping #17: Somehow beyond brutality
On Coping is my story of surviving on the sidelines of cancer. It begins in 2022 with On Coping #1, written the day after my 41st birthday. The day my wife Imogen, the mother of my three children, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. It’s the story of what happened next. Read from the start.
What an incredible post. ‘Response-ability’.
That will stay with me.
I wish she could be made better; make you better; make it all better for you. But you are right. We bob along on the sea of life, navigating the rocks and dodging the waves and when we get ‘washed up’, we deal with what the sea has left us. And that is life.
I am deeply touched and affected by your words, George, and grateful you are expressing and sharing these insightful thoughts and feelings. You are all amazing and lovely people.
Ever in my thoughts.