Image courtesy DeGeorge Photography via Flickr
At the age of 45, writer Regina Brett wrote a column for the Cleveland Plain Dealer listing 45 lessons that life had taught her thus far. As a breast cancer survivor, many of those lessons were learned the hard way. Five years later she added five more lessons rounding her list up to 50 and turned her popular list into a book called God Never Blinks. I found her list to be entertaining, inspiring and thought provoking. I thought I would go through each of her lessons learned and write about how that lesson has or has not come up in my own life, now that I am 40 and feel old enough to have finally learned something.
"Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks."
~ LESSON #15
This is a pretty simple but very deep lesson. One that I suspect was born of the author's cancer diagnosis. It also became the title of her book. It basically states that even through the unexpected, the big guy upstairs has your back. He sees it all, anticipates, guides, comforts and provides strength - maybe even corrects. This lesson of course presumes a religious belief in God.
What I take away from it is that no matter how prepared you try to be or how comfortable you get, the rug can always be ripped right out from under you. For good things or bad. Expect the unexpected. Because eventually it will touch you directly. And when it does, seeking guidance and support from your faith or other beliefs can be of great comfort. And so can your fellow mankind. You aren't the first and won't be the last. While your life has been turned upside down, seek out those who have been there before and offer to be there for those after you when you are ready.
Car accidents, murder, disease, rapes, layoffs, natural disasters, heart attacks, fires, kidnappings. These are the terrible changes. Promotions, lotteries, pregnancies, love at first sight, cures, kind strangers, donations, escapes, luck. These are the terrific changes. Either way - someone up there is watching when your life blinks.
Life blinks every day for someone. Knowing you aren't alone when it happens to you makes the change to your life's perspective easier to accept and adapt to.
What I take away from it is that no matter how prepared you try to be or how comfortable you get, the rug can always be ripped right out from under you. For good things or bad. Expect the unexpected. Because eventually it will touch you directly. And when it does, seeking guidance and support from your faith or other beliefs can be of great comfort. And so can your fellow mankind. You aren't the first and won't be the last. While your life has been turned upside down, seek out those who have been there before and offer to be there for those after you when you are ready.
Car accidents, murder, disease, rapes, layoffs, natural disasters, heart attacks, fires, kidnappings. These are the terrible changes. Promotions, lotteries, pregnancies, love at first sight, cures, kind strangers, donations, escapes, luck. These are the terrific changes. Either way - someone up there is watching when your life blinks.
Life blinks every day for someone. Knowing you aren't alone when it happens to you makes the change to your life's perspective easier to accept and adapt to.
6 comments:
something I'm very glad to know :)
You couldn't have written a truer post Molly. In my experience, being alive is all about the unexpected things that happen to us. Our character is forged by how we respond to them - the good and bad things. I've had my share of disasters and some I've handled well and others I haven't. I always knew God was with me.
Some of the most amazing people I know have staggering backgrounds once I got to know them better. I've also learned that most people have a set of believes even though their names for God may be different. For me, it's what gives definition to being a fully human and fully alive.
This is so true and I feel better knowing that while the unexpected will always occur there is someone looking out for me.
Although I don't consider myself religious, I have to admit that I find this book intriguing. I'll have to check it out!
My mousepad says "Life is all about how you handle Plan B." And it is so true. What we thought was going to be a great business move turned into a hostile take-over and left hubby unemployed for seven months. The move has been bumpy at times, but overall it has worked for good. Without our faith and knowing that He "had our back", I'm not sure we would have made it through. Thanks for sharing a valuable lesson.
This past year has had a few of these moments (the week I was in the hospital to have Gage, his week in the hospital, bringing him home after so afraid I couldn't handle the stress). Needless to say, motherhood has provided lots of these moments this year, which made Gage's 6 month milestone this week so powerful. The bad makes the good so much sweeter.
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