My most enjoyed encourager is Jordan B Peterson. In his book “12 Rules For Life” his twelfth rule is to Pet A Cat When You Encounter One On The Street. He calls it a focus on fragility. That when we have come up against the wall, in the betrayals and tragedies of our lives, we should shorten our focus on time frames, and pet the cat we encounter on the street.

This spoke loudly to me today when I sunk into tears over the continuing saga of physical maladies that have attacked me for the last 20 months. As I have overcome one, another has pounced. And the courage to get up to overcome the next challenge simply wears on one. Thus the tears, momentarily at least because I refuse to be a pitiful victim.

I fell. It’s as simple as that. While stepping up an easy incline, I suddenly lost my balance and landed flat on my back. The result is a badly bruised tailbone with which it’s difficult to stand up, walk, and sit down. Bending over is too excruciating to even consider.

Of course, it will heal. Of course, it will. I’m just beyond patience with this long trend.

And yet, as Jordan says, to accept my fragility, a natural state of everyone if we are humble enough to realize it, and pet the cat, I can purposefully resurrect softness…even beauty. A moment of enjoyment. Of calmness and healing. To remember who I truly am. Which is not this. And yet to learn that the different eras of my life require new wisdom and new reason.

I am who I Am, but this body is not who it was at 30. And it will never be that again. Would I truly want it to be? Most likely not at all. I carry marks, the rewards of a warrior, which I will never regret. But I also, don’t need to repeat those battles.

I’m content to be here now in this new era. But… I think I will ask for its wisdom to come more gently in the future. I will open my arms and embrace it with welcoming gratefulness.

Blessings,

Faith