One More Day Alive

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Even the worst of times are windows to the best. Because out of pain and struggle come inspiration and hope. Our happiness cannot wait for the good times to roll around in a world where tragedies and tough times never cease. We will always face tough personal trials and tribulations every day – at work, at home, in our families and in our communities. But what if our problems, our tragedies and even our grief help us to learn, to feel and to love better? What if life’s toughest times are actually its best opportunities to reach out to others to love and be loved and to find purpose and meaning in our confusing world. What if our problems, our inadequacies, our imperfections and our failures don’t make us less worthy or less important but even greater proofs of God’s greatness love if He can so perfectly love what is imperfect? In turn it is a proof of our greatness and our capacity for love if we can do the same of each other and of ourselves. Maybe none of us are dysfunctional or any less worthy of life, no matter what we do or don’t do, no matter how many mistakes we make, no matter where we go right, where we go wrong, how much we succeed or fail or how well we fit or do not fit into society. Ultimately all of life’s struggles, and all of our imperfections are a chance for us to reach out to others to love and to be loved, and that is where we find our true purpose, our real value and our greatest joy and triumphs. Author and psychologist Viktor Frankl suffered the atrocities of a concentration camp during World War II where his entire family lost their lives, culminating in his wife’s execution in front of his eyes. After overcoming the compulsion to end his own life, he realized that the pain he was experiencing because of their deaths was proof of his extraordinary ability to love, and he wanted to go and love some more. Or as Frankl himself put it, “We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed.” I guess sometimes only death reminds us of the value of life, and that every day is one more day alive, a miracle, and an opportunity to experience that miracle in oh so many ways. The bottom line is that for all of us, there is a reality, and no amount of positive thinking or perception twisting rhetoric is going to make it go away. We can make that reality meaningful and constructive, not by becoming obsessed with changing it, but by finding a noble purpose in the way we deal with it, that purpose is to love and be loved by others. Because sometimes it’s not about whether the glass is half full or half empty, but instead it’s about the value of the glass. The glass of our lives is always valuable.

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