Life Cycles

It's good to know that life's events come in cycles, because if I thought that the current phase we're in would last forever, I'd feel very despondent.

{Talking about personal life here... As for our current political environment, I'm not even going to go there, but there are plenty of political bloggers who are happy to oblige. Feel free to insert your own political opinions into this metaphor if you'd like.}

But, thankfully, experience has taught me that it won't last forever. When life is at its worst, that's the time to celebrate, for it means that things will surely improve. That's just the way cycles work.

Starting in the fall, and continuing into these wee early days of spring, many of my friends have sustained serious injuries. Not life-threatening, but serious enough to put their lives off-kilter. Take me, for example. Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks on crutches - I'm almost halfway done! {Note the sarcasm there.} Yet again I have sustained a stress fracture of the femoral neck. It's the same injury I had 1-1/2 years ago, but in the other hip. This time around, I completely broke down in despair in the first two days after receiving the diagnosis, but in the weeks following, I've actually coped better overall than the first time: I know that if I keep my weight off that leg, it will heal on its own.

My friend, however, wasn't so fortunate. Her stress fracture was not diagnosed until it fractured all the way through, requiring immediate surgery on Tuesday. Now she's got three screws in her leg. Another friend tore her calf muscle, requiring a boot and crutches for at least six weeks this winter. Another is still recovering from rotator cuff surgery in December. One broke her hand in a bloody fall on the ice last month. Yet another sees knee surgery in her near future - she's hoping the knee will hold up until the tennis league playoffs.

But we injured ones should thank our lucky stars. Because over the winter, we've known 3 friends and acquaintances who have been diagnosed with cancer. So sad - but even sadder that one of them is a child, and this is his second bout with the dreadful disease. A fourth is undergoing testing on the suspicion that his cancer from many years ago has returned. A neighbor lost her husband, without warning, due to a heart attack. In addition, the beloved pet dogs of two of our friends have passed away this winter from cancer. Though not human, they were very much a part of their families' lives and their passing has left a void.

In addition to the injuries and diseases we've encountered this winter, we've known many friends and neighbors who have been hit hard by the economic downturn - their jobs lost, their businesses struggling - and suddenly they're forced to reallocate resources and juggle priorities. The psychological malaise of such struggles is felt even more painfully than the physical discomfort from, say, a fractured hip.

To add insult to injury, we have had to endure these physical and economic downturns in the literal dark and cold of winter.

Yet the changing of seasons has always been a perfect analogy for life itself. For in all cycles, one phase gradually and surely gives way to the next. Just as our days become more light-filled, warmer, and colorful, so will our outlook on life. Injuries will heal. We have faith that those who struggle for their lives will find the inner strength and medical interventions that enable them to emerge victorious! New jobs will be found, money will be made. Babies will be born. Yes, even tournaments will be won.

This was a long, hard winter. In spring, we may still struggle, but perhaps with greater hope for the future. Nature reminds us that life never stays the same; the dreary gives way to the joyful. The grass becomes greener each day, emerging from dormancy to soften the ground we walk on, and the buds on the trees emit sweet fragrance to stimulate our winter-stifled olfactory sense, and the flowers bloom, revealing the palette of colors that brighten our landscape and our outlook.

We may have to make some adjustments to our path, but the light ahead of us will show us the way. Together, we will leave the dark behind.