The Indomitable Spirit

Keep your head up, they said. Don’t look back, they said.  They’re wrong and we’re right, they said.

Really? I’m going to share a few tales about overcoming ‘they’. Sometimes ‘they’ are the voices we get in our own head sometimes.

Now, before continuing on, I want you to understand that this is not a religious writing. It comes from a place that is universal, spiritual, and heartfelt. If you do not believe in any of those things, then this comes from love.

One other thing. This conversation is between you and I. If you’re reading this, then there is some reason, even if unknown, that you are seeing it.

I was a hospice licensed practical nurse. I went to work to pick-up my paycheck one afternoon. One of my sons came with me. We stopped to talk to the daughter of one of the patients there. My son was giving me grief because he didn’t want to go inside. The daughter said that he could stay outside with her.

When I came back out, they were sitting on the curb together. The daughter was in tears and my 9-year-old son had his arm wrapped around her. She had her head on his shoulder. I came up to them and she stood. She said that I had the most wonderful son! I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised; he has psychological problems. To be honest, I don’t know how she convinced me to allow him to stay there. He had been telling her about when we were stationed in Germany and he almost died. He remembered seeing his angel, me sitting by his bed, and his dad flirting with the nurses at the nurses’ station. All while being in a coma.

She found hope from a child with special needs. A child who could never sit for more than a moment. I don’t know that I’d call it a miracle, but I would call it love.

That’s something we all have in common in this life. We are human. We thrive when we are there for each other. We collapse not only when we work against each other, but climb over the top of each other like trying to escape from a burning building.

This world is a frightful place at times. Right now, is one of them. It’s easy to get swept away by fear and forget who we are. It’s easy to act like our Neanderthal ancestors. Living by fight or flight.

Power is craved by some and they’ll do whatever they can to get it. We can’t change them. But we can use our hearts. Instead of spreading fear, we can do what we can to help those who feel the pain of the power craved. One person takes another’s hand who takes another and another. Each one easing the pain of the one before.