Getting Better

 

"I don't want to be somewhere else anymore. Not waiting for anything new to happen. 

Not looking around the next corner or over the next hill. 

I'm here now. 

And that's enough."

       The above quote is from the movie Shadowlands, one of my mother's favorites. Anthony Hopkins portrays C. S. Lewis in the love story between him and his wife, Joy Gresham who is terminally ill. Mr. Lewis, or Jack as he is affectionately called in the film, says that this is his kind of happy - complete contentment with the now. Sounds good to me. Yet, not so easy to come by.

       I'm sick. Not terminally ill - thank heavens. But what started out as a raspy sore throat has developed into a rousing cough and red swollen eyes with a profuse goopey discharge. I feel so toxic - as if others will get sick just from looking at me! I really don't have time for this. Not with homeschooling the 5 hooligans around here, preparing a research paper for my Health class, and attending meetings for Young Women Girls Camp -- not to mention being in the last trimester of my pregnancy. I will admit I am not enduring this trial very gracefully.

       But another line from that movie came to my mind. One of the lines my Mom always quoted. Joy explains that by enduring trials, our future becomes sweeter. "The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal." 

      It's true that in order to be happy, you must learn to accept your present circumstances and focus on the present. But I've learned that a degree of perspective is also needed. 

       I think of my experiences with childbirth. At the point where labor is at its most intense and my body is being stretched to the limits of its capacity, I wouldn't say, "Gee, I am so happy that I get to do this." Yet, I am willing and even excited to go through that pain only because I know what's going to result from it. The reward of meeting my newest little one is made even sweeter having endured that trauma to get them here.

       And so it is with life. We focus on the good to be found in our present circumstances and when that proves to be a difficult task, we remember that whatever pain we may now be enduring can make our future that much brighter and happier. We can take courage and comfort in knowing that eventually we will get "better". We may continue suffering, but we will emerge a better person, a stronger soul for having endured it well.

       Incidentally, did you know that when you're sick a humidifier, a fresh bouquet from someone you love, and drinking a warm, homemade concoction from the fanciest tea cup you own can help make you feel just a bit better? I highly recommend them. Plus a spouse who still allows you to sleep in the same room, even when you cough and drool all over the sheets and make the bed shudder each time you must reposition your enormous pregnant belly. That helps too.