The second beginning

When my heart was breaking it wasn’t broken. It was stretching…growing. Certain things or people make it stretch to challenge you to love even harder, when you start to lose hope. It wasn’t them that made you believe again, made you love deeper. It was all the other things and other people that reminded you what being human meant. For every bitter and spiteful thing…there is sweet, and strangers with hands extended. You can think that money, possessions, power or a hopeful feeling everything will be alright, can hold you through the night or this life. But until you have none of those things, will you truly know what being alright means? Everything is already alright and you know that because of your struggles. For all the years you spent in a world lacking examples of humanity and compassion with one situation or person…there’s a whole other world waiting. Those of us who were born with less but still are more fortunate than others, understand the value in compassion, community, and less is more. I have been met by some of the most amazing people lately. Small actions that amplify in the dark. Beautiful people that have struggled most of their life, just to make something of their life. Nothing handed to them and have little possessions. But they’re the richest people in the world, they are rich in love. They love more fiercely. They work until their fingers bleed. They offer you the little they have to give. They care about you for real reasons, nothing shallow, nothing taken for granted, no ownership or power…they love you because you are them and they are you. Raw, real, simple, grateful, and selfless. I met a woman yesterday, that I started talking with. We dove so deep into our lives and struggles. We were vulnerable. I felt so connected to her, like someone I had known just through hope. She was beautiful and present. She gave me the cliffsnotes of her story. I kept thinking about who she is and how she could be so gracious, strong, and gentle after everything she had been through. But her answer was the same as mine. It wasn’t all the bad. It wasn’t the loss. That’s just where most of us focus because it hurts so bad. It is in all the good. It was in Small brushes with compassion. Conversations with a stranger. Bare feet in the rain. The smell of newly blooming wildflowers being warmed by the sun. It was in the real things that makes us human. She was gentle because she wasn’t greedy. She prioritized her life in a way that is based around nature’s materials, not human made. She gave instead of taking. Especially because she realized she wasn’t in need. She had some to spare, because she needed so little. Sometimes I don’t think we learn that until we’re old and finally start reminding ourselves we aren’t taking any of this with us. So what kind of human do we want to be?