Because that’s what there is to do

you-are-my-hero
It’s midnight,  Sunday.
I’m sitting in my Jeep at a rest stop.
Some things can’t wait.
Ever since last night a line
has been repeating itself
over and over in my head.

“There are bigger things at work here…”

It’s a line (or close to it) from
one of the Spider Man movies.
Spider Man is battling with an enemy
who not long ago was his best friend.
Not sure the whole story – only that other enemies
are wreaking havoc on the general public
and his girlfriend’s life is in jeopardy.
His friend could only focus on what he
thought Spider Man had done, which was
to kill his father (a.k.a. the Green Goblin).
He didn’t see the bigger picture; that many people
- including those he cared about, were in danger.
In his world, all he could see was that he had
been wronged, and he wanted revenge; to get back…
Eventually he saw beyond his own blind ambitions
and helped Spider Man fight and defeat the enemy
- giving his very Life for the greater cause.

You and I -
We have… so many battles.
Another month behind in our bills, with no end in sight.
A daughter out of control, defiant and disrespectful
- her mother crying herself to sleep at night
wondering what she did wrong.
What seemed like a promotion at first in an
aspiring company ends in unemployment
as the company folds and closes its doors.

The phone call that brings the news that the treatment
didn’t take and now they need to start chemotherapy…
She hangs up the phone, fighting back the tears.
Her daughter is in the living room playing the piano – unaware.
Down the hall in his room her teenage son chats online.
Her husband drives home from work wondering what’s for dinner.
Suddenly her son’s messy room doesn’t seem to bother her.
Her daughter’s “C” in math… well it could be worse.
So her husband is working late again for the overtime
- she feels grateful rather than the usual resentment.
The roast beef is almost done,
she quickly makes a salad while the potatoes cool.
At some point before the night is through,
the rest of the family will know about the cancer
and come together in support
- Because that’s what there is to do.

Because that’s what there is to do.

What do you do when you get knocked down ?
How do you handle Life’s disappointments,
setbacks, challenges, and even betrayals ?
When you’re on your knees
with the wind sucked out of you,
what do you do ? Where do you go ?
What do you blame… or who ?
How long do you stay there?
…or are you still there even now ?

It is not because I lack compassion
that I say what I am about to say, but rather
because there are bigger things at work here
- and I cannot allow my fear of what you
may think of me prevent it from being said.
We can wish things were different,
and we all too often wallow in our pain,
our misery, our anger, pity, and shame.
Meanwhile, time marches on, the world turns
- and Life moves on without us.
If you want to keep up – if you want to conquer,
you’ve got to get up and put one foot
in front of the other and move.
Nothing happens until you make it happen,
and until you step up, look in the mirror and realize
that YOU ultimately decide and determine
your fate and place in this World
- you will always stumble and fall further
from the Life you wish you had.
You need to find what it is that is Bigger… than you.
Your family needs you to, your friends need you to.
Your community and country needs you to,
and if you can truly embrace what I do
- the World needs you to.

But let’s start with you first,
because you really need you to – first.

That’s why I’m sitting at a rest stop
writing you, at 2am
- because that’s what there was to do

and that’s where I needed to begin.

 

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