It Don’t Come Easy
“It don’t come easy” has been an ear-worm for us this year. It has become a positive force for reflection in our lives and journey. Sometimes it is the curve balls from left field that awaken us to the beauty that has been given to us. We only need to reframe the picture.
Got to Pay Your Dues . . .
2024 started off with a burst water heater, and 3 weeks later a fracture in the main sewer line, a diagnosis of cancer and an earlier than planned retirement. Life, it don’t come easy. “Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues . . .”
Easy Comes in Fairy Tales
Sometimes life stinks, it hurts, it’s expensive and certainly doesn’t meet your hopes and expectations. It isn’t easy. But easy comes in fairy tales that end quickly with transformation, love, and a ride off into the sunset all in one breath. Real life is not a fairy tale. There is no room in a fairy tale for all the many transformations that happen over time and are a result of the love and growth that results from making hard choices.
My Transformation Story
MF: I received a phone call literally New Year’s Day with the news that an imaging study showed an incidental cancer in my kidney. It came out of left field and took our breath away. Fortunately, I am healed from surgery, but a cancer diagnosis makes us vulnerable and confronts us with death, even when we know the prognosis is very good. Feelings of fear and loneliness come out when we are in deep sleep and our guard is down. During those wee hours of the morning when neither of us could sleep, I felt secure in Tom’s arms, stronger than every before. Fear is not easy, but it is transformative.
Transformations Reframe the Picture
The flood and later the back-up of the sewer in the basement destroyed the ‘den’ in which our boys spent a good part of their lives. When they offered to come home and help us renovate their space, Tom and I were overcome with gratitude. Raising kids involves choices, decisions and learning from mistakes. These lead to transformation, love, and growth as parents and as kids. Transformations reframe the picture when we become the recipients of their love.
My Transformation Story
TOM: I’ve know for several years my transition to retirement was close. I love my job, especially the people, but unfinished charts, and redundant inter-office communications on the computer had become stressful. My supervisors and especially MF could see the effect of this stress before I could. When I failed to meet a year-end deadline, I knew it was time, but retirement was still hard to accept. It was not easy. Many heartfelt conversations with MF helped me see my work pace had taken away our time together and destroyed a healthy work-life balance. These conversations led to transformation and acceptance. Today I am at peace and feel relief. I look forward to this new phase in my life.
This Love of Mine Keeps Growin’ All the Time
Life, it don’t come easy. Unlike a fairy tales, real life offers the gift of life-giving transformations. Embracing vulnerability, trusting and making hard choices lead to transformation. We invite you to reflect on a time in your lives when you experienced transformation because of a difficult time in your life. It helps to remember: “This love of mine keeps growin’ all the time and you know it don’t come easy.” (Listen Here.)
