The tragic events in Oklahoma this week are a sobering reminder that everything can change in an instant.
The task of rebuilding and healing in Moore is immense; if you haven’t donated yet to the Red Cross, you might want to do that here.
It’s so easy to forget, in the hustle and bustle and irritation of the days, what’s truly precious in our worlds.
I hugged my girl so tight that night. I kissed the ground with gratitude for this life that I can too often take for granted.
Can you see the lady bug that landed on her hair? Tiny miracles abound, and there’s nothing like seeing through the eyes of a child’s lopsided sunglasses to help you see them up close.
A couple of weeks ago I took some friends to watch Girl Rising, a movie about the impact that education can have on the lives of girls in impoverished nations. It was a potent reminder of all that I do indeed take for granted: civil rights, safety, clean water, sovereignty over my body and choices.
It hurts to look at scenes of devastation, whether you’re looking at suburban homes that are now piles of sticks, or whether you’re looking at the devastation of a young girl sold into slavery.
Sometimes I have to avert my eyes. This is important, not self-indulgent, because if I devastate myself with sadness then I’ll also devastate the people I am responsible to: my clients, my friends, and especially my daughter. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do for the world is take care of our own tender hearts.
But some days I can look at unbearable sadness and I can breathe and hold my ground. When I can do that with love and not panic, then something in me grows a little bit stronger.
Here’s what I’m thinking about this week:
- I need to finish updating my will.
- Time to make sure my insurance is current and plentiful.
- I’m going to buy that emergency kit for my car I keep thinking about.
- I’m making microloans through Kiva and donating to the Red Cross.
These aren’t sexy things to do. They don’t feel heroic and there’s no outside impetus to force us to think about them, which is why most of us need a nudge before we get around to them. (Don’t wait for a crisis; my Royal Keep class is a more gentle and effective nudge.) But they are heroic in their own way, and important.
Most of all, I’m remembering to see my girl as the miracle that she is: a little bit of stardust in the body of a person– a beautiful, sticky, curious, sometimes whiny, loving, irritable, wise, independent little girl.
How about you? Look around your world and touch everything that is beautiful about it. Savor it with your eyes, your senses, your fingertips.
Because today we are alive, and we are awake. This makes us so rich.
