I own a handful of trendy t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan: LIFE IS GOOD. I wear them because they're ridiculously soft, they feature stick figures with infectious smiles and, quite frankly, because I like the upbeat message they send to the big, bad world. Often times, people will stop me in the grocery store or post office, point at my shirt and nod in agreement: "Yeah, life is good, isn't it!" which is great, because sometimes I'm the one that needs a reminder.
That said, sometimes life is downright ugly--like right now, as the wheels fly off this crazed election and increasingly hateful rhetoric spews from otherwise civilized and compassionate people. I am no exception. Life is not only ugly, it's also heartbreaking and undeniably unjust because senseless violence continues to ravage the globe, hurricanes, floods and fires strike unmercifully and so many people I love grapple with cancer, or Alzheimer's or any number of other devastating diseases. Neighbors move away. Parents and beloved pets die. Friends endure unspeakable adversity--including, but not limited to financial ruin, crippling addictions or, heaven forbid, having to bury a child. What's more, marriages fail, suicides happen and people I care about become broken for a host of reasons.
I suppose that loss--sometimes more than people can bear--comes with the territory, an unwelcome side effect of this thing called life. Strangely enough, the more sorrow I experience, the more difficult it seems to manage on a personal level, each event affecting me more deeply than the last. You'd think that by now coping with it would be a walk in the park for me--something distinctly unpleasant, yet easy to accept because, if nothing else, it's familiar. Admittedly, I sometimes stay in bed and hide from the world--especially on days when sadness and negativity threaten to consume me, convinced that by avoiding reality somehow it will cease to exist.
Of course, avoidance is only temporary. It does nothing to change what is real. So I shake my fist at God, infuriated by the fact that bad things happen to good people each and every day--despite denial, despite rage and despite prayers.
And then, as the sun rises, a funny thing happens. My dog ambles over to my bedside and shoves his head and warm muzzle into my hand, demanding to be petted, acknowledged, and eventually, fed since it's time for breakfast. I then crawl on the floor and spend a few moments rubbing his impossibly soft ears and talking with him about all the important things in his life--the walk we'll take later, his renowned affinity for squirrels and how great his scrambled eggs will taste. Yes, my dog eats scrambled eggs. Don't judge.
At any rate, somewhere between hugging him and caressing the leathery pads on his feet my mind is flooded with what can only be described as gratitude. Indeed, I can't imagine life without the rescue dog my family and I decided to adopt more than two years ago--our black lab-mix with the grizzled face and unsteady gait. Nor can I take for granted the other loveable beasts that reside here, never mind that our curly-haired, pint-sized yapper is decidedly neurotic and that our cat gives him plenty to be neurotic about.
From there, it mushrooms into recognizing all the good that has come into my life--all the people for whom I am thankful and all the experiences I'm glad to have had. I think of my husband, a man who has been my best friend for more than 20 years, the love of my life and my soft spot to land when the universe spirals out of control. I think of my three children who are talented, bright and most importantly, kind--ever so grateful that I get to be their mom. I think of all the people who touch their lives daily and I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of indebtedness. I think of my treasured friends, my church family and how fortunate I am to have the lot of them in my life.
Of course, I'm happy to have a roof overhead, food in my pantry and the sweet refuge of music and books, too. But mainly it's the people that remind me that life is, indeed, good...mostly.
Planet Mom: It's where I live (probably wearing a LIFE IS GOOD t-shirt). Visit me there at www.melindawentzel.com and www.facebook.com/NotesfromPlanetMom.
Copyright 2016 Melinda L. Wentzel