Remind Me Of This When The World Gets To Be Too Much

It’s easy to be spiritual when things are going your way. Even when things are just okay. Ah, but when you are in the thick of it, it’s not as easy for us mere mortals. It takes courage then, and a certain amount of stubborn willpower. Sinking into the soft, comfy, and very seductive negativity of feeling sorry for ourselves is just so easy. After all, it’s never going to be good again, right?

The following is what gives me courage to be spiritual when I need it most. It’s like Mary Poppins umbrella.

I have a lifetime of friends. Grade school, camp, Israel year program, nursing school, Operating room, Oncology department, Israeli and American. When we get together we relive moments that are somehow not part of the time space continuum.

A family of my own making. We can be weird together. We can laugh at things that others might gasp at. We can just hang together freestyling our conversation. We try to impress absolutely no one. The four of us rule!

Every pet I ever owned. They all taught me how to live in the moment. They taught me how to not hold a grudge. My bulldog Max taught me that nothing is needed to be happy. Nothing. He was a master.

My Mom, who taught me to love animals. My Dad who taught me about people, and how to see a burden they might have that I do not.

Every day that I show up to work I help someone. That doesn’t stop me from the occasional “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Okay, maybe more frequently than occassionaly!

Great TV, movies and books. They let me escape for a while and clear my head.

Coffee. Italian food. Gelato. Chinese food. Egg Creams. Knishes. Bagel with cream cheese and lox. Comfort food.

The beach. Sunrises and sunsets. Clouds and waves in the ocean, because have you ever seen an imperfect one?

Okay, I’m ready to face the storm, because I know it too will pass, and I will have had courage to weather it.