With chronic disease, the one aflicted begins in the dark, fumbling through protracted bouts of insomnia, depression, and pain until finally a lab comes back or an endless infection is abated before a diagnosis is pronounced. Only after a faltering diagnosis does a vague clarity or validation dawn.
How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage? I have recently been challenged to do just that, not in a didactic confrontational way, but within a the confines of a painful conversation.Painful conversations are inevitable with people about whom we care the most. If we didn’t care so much, we wouldn’t bother to ache!
Similar to the way people become addicted to alcohol, drugs, or gambling, they may also become addicted to seeking retribution against their perceived enemies. It’s called “revenge addiction.”
Did you have an off-kilter Christmas too?
What a weird season this has been. No grandchildren clamoring through, no visitors dropping by, no glorious baking sprees, no in-person church Christmas celebrations. Yet, I still put up a few nativity scenes, the tree, and definitely the kids’ stockings. Everyone virtually greets us with a ‘stay safe” and “stay at home!”
The new year is a time to look back and sift through what we want to keep and what we wish we could discard. One way in which I cope with throwing away the detritus of life is by highlighting the stories of hope.
I was reading an article in the Washington Post that compiled nurse interviews from ICU and ER units in hospitals across the country. The quote that jumped out at me was “there is no room left, essentially, and I think that’s really what people don’t understand.”