Hard Times Aren’t Bad Times

The next few months are going to be tough.  Today I grabbed a little patch of writing time before having some tests.  Yeah, I hate tests.  They aren’t the kind that get you into school or provide you with a driver’s license.

But the hard times coming don’t have to be bad times.  If life has taught me anything, it has taught me the power, blessing, and surprising opportunities hidden in challenges.  Cancer was a gift.  PF, even, has been a gift.  The smartest person I ever knew told me, time and again, that Pain is our greatest teacher.  Adversity is just an assistant, really.

So I’m going to be forced to slow some things down in the coming months, and to put a lot of things aside all-together for most of June.  I’m actually already planning ways to get a lot done before this month is over, and to shuffle tasks around during that “down time.” 

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks with writers, most of them good friends.  We were sitting in a planning meeting last week when several of my friends expressed dismay at recent “rough patches.”  I remained quiet.  I go through them, too.  But I did notice one very old friend watching me.

“How do you do it?” she asked.  “You’ve been coughing all night.”

I gave the same answer I always give, which is that I GET UP whenever I can manage it… which is pretty much every day.  It’s very rare I stay in bed, and usually only on strict medical orders.  In a way I felt bad for silencing the group, because we should all feel free to bitch.  Really, it’s what friends are for, and support groups should be safe places to vent, too.

But it really has, honestly, been that simple for me.  I had a long stretch of curiously good health and worked my backside off earlier this year.  Last month I hit a pot-hole jungle and the going got rough.  I even had a week in bed, forced, and miserable.  As soon as I could get up and get out of the house I did.

June will be a month of patching holes.  They need patching.  I’ll put up with it, sneak as many moments with my netbook as possible, and get up the instant they let me up.  Somebody has to keep Starbucks in business…