Sharing is caring!

This morning when the clock radio went off I heard two women discussing a sentence that went something like this, “Where is it written that you will always be happy?” That’s my best approximation as I had just woken up and I couldn’t stay and listen because mother nature was yelling at me to attend to other things. That sentence has two echoes in my mind. The first is it reflects part of the thought you’ll find in Buddhism and the second is something I have come to believe. This last Friday I was at the VA hospital because as my neurosurgeons had predicted my spinal damage is continuing to have a greater and greater impact on my life. I was being interviewed by an occupational therapist, Jody, and tested to see if there was something that could improve my ability to move around. I got to test out one of the electric scooters in the halls of the hospital. I think I did rather well since I didn’t run over anyone. It would definitely be very addicting to use since it is a chore to move these days. However, they did give me a new wheelchair which will be a great aid for me.

Going back to the sentence, “Where is it written that you will always be happy?” I don’t think I would’ve ever put it quite in those words, but I knew life had both its ups and downs. Some of the downs are harder than others like the death of my friends in Vietnam or coming home and having my wife and the baby died in childbirth. However, I don’t think my declining ability to move around is one of those horrible lows. Yes, the spinal injury comes from service but I think of it in terms of a song by a Vietnam era singer, Barry Sadler. I even used the title of one of his songs, “I am a lucky one,” in a Facebook post today. If you would like to listen to it, it’s on YouTube at this address https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv8cKqqsO24 Yes, I can get down as expressed in another of Barry Sadler’s songs titled “A soldier has come home.” The open lines are “Lay the green sod over me, carved my name in stone.” Later in the song is a line that says, “Let me go to sleep now.” Those are thoughts for blue days. If you’d like to listen to the whole song here it is on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfPwXQ9NbiU

I’m sure you struggle too and you are not always happy. Like the sentence I heard early this morning, it’s something we all share. As the sentence suggests, we can’t avoid those down times, but remember there’s always the upside of life too. I am reminded of that when I listen to the song “I’m a lucky one.” I am sure you can find a song that represents the upside of your life too.