It’s not about you

I have lost track of all the experiences in my life that have humbled me from this lesson. 

Today was no different, except in intensity. 

My team and I are stretched pretty thin on a normal day at my 9-5. 

Partly because it’s kind of where we are in the world today, more work and less people to complete said work (rinse, repeat), and we throw our hearts and souls into it. 

We grow close to the people we serve, whether it’s for a day, or years.  We share their wins, and their losses.

We rejoice with them; we cry with them. 

The day started as it normally does; plan the work and work the plan.

Structure the marathon of catching up to the speed of light, that everything around us, including time, seems to travel these days. 

Until about midday, when we learned that someone we serve passed away.

This isn’t something new by any means, especially in the world today.  This unfortunately, isn’t even something new to us in the last few weeks. 

Today’s news was different. 

Today’s news was about someone who, in spite of debilitating diseases that plagued them for a lifetime, filled their days and nights as an artist, a writer, a musician, and you can fill in the blank with anything because they mastered that too. 

It was about someone who loved with all they had, and all they didn’t, and they did it with grateful, fierce joy. 

Fulfill one’s purpose, change the world for the better?

They did that before you even finished breakfast. 

This was someone who served us better than we could have even begun to serve them. 

Today’s news punched us in the gut…

But Spirit (Life, the Universe, God, that which is greater than ourselves) had different plans for us today.  The more we wanted the world to stop so we could feel our pain (even for a minute), the more Spirit said,

“You don’t have time for that, you have lives to serve.” 

This world, life, and all of Spirit conspires to give us endless signs that all of us are connected, all of us are each other’s lifelines, and that all of us matter. 

Just when you think Spirit is done for the day…

Just when you think they are going let you off the hook and allow you to wallow in your own pain for a minute…..

Spirit swoops in and says…

Apparently, this bears repeating…

It isn’t about you.

It’s about your purpose, to serve.

So be ready, and be present.

Love with all you have and all that you don’t.