#15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
To blink is absolutely fascinating. The process takes all of a microsecond and unless you are thinking about it, it happens involuntarily; without thought or consequence. But when there is something caught in your eye and the blinking is a result of irritation or allergy or whatever, it’s the outside influences that change the whole process, that create the most irritation. Think about it for a minute, if, without the outside irritant being involved, blinking just happens, over and over and you seem oblivious to it. It is a natural response.
Just a few months ago a dear friend was reminiscing about her life and how easy it was going. It was with foreboding that she said it and with hindsight it was as if she was preparing herself. I mean, the lives of her friends around her were littered with chaos and heartache and struggle and she was like, all about it maybe being her turn without ever really saying it. Then, it happened.
In the blink of an eye her son was nearly killed in a car accident and for the last few months she has been in the midst of her own chaos I doubt any of us could survive. She has had grace and dignity and challenges and she again has risen to the status of example. So what am I on about? That whole “blink of an eye” thing and the whole world changing in it.
It is when we become complacent that sudden and dramatic change can bring us to our knees. If we live with the knowledge that chaos, whether self inflicted or forced on us, is but a blink away, we survive and we grow. Now, here’s a bit of a disclaimer. Chaos has the ability to knock the wind out of us. You have a right to call for a reprieve and to breath….. both in and then out and then in again; to gather your emotions and to recompose yourself and to find the purpose. Then to sort whatever there is to sort out and move forward; always moving forward.
I had a struggle recently with my asthma. I try without fail to convince myself that I have just a mild case of it. I hack and I cough and I wheeze and there are times when I know it’s bad but I still insist that it is just a bad cold or maybe some allergies. Well, when I was with W a while ago I scared the begebees out of him and he insisted I see the Dr. (Let me state right here and now, I hate going to the Dr. I hate it with a passion and please, going to the hospital, don’t even get me started. I relented and promised I would.)
That Monday when I got back I went. Off in the corner of the large waiting room was a section of people all wearing masks and a large sign stating that if you had any of the mentioned symptoms to go to that particular place. As I moved towards the nurse and I explained I had Asthma she whisked me faster than I have ever been whisked before to a different area. A doctor saw me pretty quickly and an x-ray was taken. I knew I was in trouble when two doctors called me into a separate area and the x-ray was brought up on the screen. The two Doctors then explained the results of the x-ray and pointed out the massive infection all over the right lung.
Seriously, I knew I was having problems. I knew that my breathing was labored but what they then explained to me was that all those people in the other cordoned off section were suffering from the H1V1 (Swine Flu) and that with the way my lungs were at that moment, I would not survive an exposure. “A Blink of an Eye” moment. I had been laughing and sending the emails and joking about this flu and the reality was, for me, I needed to care. I was put on some heavy medication and had some stern warnings and at this moment, my lungs are much improved but I will never take coughing and labouredly breathing so lightly again. It took another to help me understand the fragility of my situation. I can’t leave my kids yet and I have to do everything I can to make sure I stick around to make their lives that much more fun. I’d say for at least another 20 or 30 years.
These moments, when things suddenly change for us, and our vision or life direction completely transforms are, whether we want them or not, good for us. We need to embrace, after the wind comes back into our sails, the lessons these life changing moments have for us and grow and get stronger and be what our lives were always intended to be. I believe with all my heart that my Asthma is a trial that I agreed to far before I ever came here. I knew the weaknesses our bodies would have; I knew that my struggle is here for me to overcome and to grow from. I am grateful for the lessons I continually have.
It is my prayer that I always embrace these lessons and never let them overcome me. They overcame me once in my lifetime. Whether it was good or bad it was a journey that I am grateful for having passed through. Life is, above everything, always about enjoying the journey.
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