I used the word "opportunity" in my post yesterday and it got me thinking. What would my life be like if I saw every circumstance as an opportunity? I can look back at past experiences and see what this might be like.
When Bill got sick a few months after we got married it felt overwhelming and tragic. It shook us to our core. I can remember standing in the waiting room while he had surgery. I was imagining his death. I imagined the stark, searing pain that would accompany such an event. I imagined myself moving through the pain to the other side. Through those sad daydreams, I caught a glimpse of my own resiliency. Bill's illness provided me with an opportunity.
Lately I have been worried about my adult child and her prospects for employment when she graduates from college in a few months. Perhaps she won't find a job. Perhaps that will be her opportunity for growth. Life is good when we remember that every problem comes bearing gifts.
My grandmother used to say that for every door that closed, another opened (at least I think she said that). As a society we are so fixated on defining ourselves by our jobs. Yet I see where lack of full employment can give many opportunities. I have a nephew who is disabled. He has to watch every penny, but he has also been given the gift of time, time to be in the forest, visit the library, spend time with friends. My dad was a depression baby, and not knowing wealth as a child, he didn't miss it. But he did find great value in having time with his dad, which probably won't have happened if it was boom times. People in his town were mostly kept on with the local company enough hours that they could eat and not lose their houses. Maybe if we could figure out a way to have people work less than 40+ hours per week, everyone could have a job, and we all could have more time with friends and family. But that would probably mean that we couldn't sanction 1% of the people in America owning 25% of the wealth. Thngs might be better overall if that 1% only controlled 9-10% of the wealth like was the case back in the 1990s.
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