01/04/2019
I started to read a book this evening by the title of "God Never Blinks" and though I've only read the first nine pages I find myself deeply moved already. I know that some of you will likely know what this book is, but for those who don't here is the simple synopsis... It is a a collection of short essays on life lessons the author has compiled over her lifetime. I plan to read one a day and if they all strike me as this one has I will share them to this page as well.
Lesson 1 - Life isn't fair, But it's Still Good
She tells the story of being diagnosed with breast cancer, and some of the stress that goes along with such an affliction. She talks about worrying about her hair falling out and how she happens to see a man wearing a ball cap with three simple words written upon it... "LIFE IS GOOD"..
She is inspired by the simple message and asks the man where he got the hat and she acquires her own. She wears it throughout her chemotherapy and is eventually diagnosed cancer free. Then sometime later a friend of hers is diagnosed with breast cancer as well and asks to borrow her cap, she obliges and her friend beats cancer as well. After that a long list of her friends are diagnosed just like her with breast cancer and all of them wear that cap and spread the positive message, and just as her and the first friend had previously, they all beat breast cancer.Then a man she knows is diagnosed with colon cancer, and asks to borrow the "lucky" hat, and she lets him. His mother questions him about the hat and he tells her the story, and the mother being so moved contacts the company who produces the hat, and buys a whole case of them to distribute to friends and family to spread the message of support. The company after talking to the mothers is so moved that they give every employee a cap and takes pictures of the whole crew, something like 178 people and send them to the man and his mother with a message that all the employees will wear the hats and pass them onto others who are in dire situations.
I forgot to mention that a friend of the author's is the one who actually acquired the cap for her since she wasn't in the shape to search it out for herself. He lives by a simple little montra of his own that goes hand in hand with the message on the cap, or caps as it has become. His montra is "get to". He never "has to" do anything, he "gets to" go grocery shopping, "gets to" go to work, "gets to" get out of bed in the morning... there's a lesson all in its self there to be kept in mind.
I'm gonna end this long post here, with one last thought on it. Life is indeed unfair, as we're all taught from a young age, but it is indeed also GOOD. If so many people, with troubles far greater than I've had to endure, can find the hope, joy and strength from three simple words written on no doubt a cheap ball cap to persevere through the dark times, we should learn from their example and look on the brighter side of life when we are doing things we consider to be "have to" tasks and like her friend consider that because we are capable we "get to" do them. All of this because as long as we're here and have the means to get to do the things we can, whether we tend to like them or not, we're lucky enough to be able to and for that simple fact life is good.
