Choice

Today I learned two things that put life into perspective.

First, today is my would-be-graduation-day. That is, it’s the day those I began my MFA in Creative Writing program with have donned gowns and goofy hats and walked across a stage in completion of three years of writing, thesis revisions, teaching, and oodles more revisions. I left the program after one semester. I say I left for financial reasons and because it was in the middle of nowhere. I was miserable. Truth: I expected to have teaching assistantships lavished upon me for my mere presence. Truth: I chose to focus on the negative. I chose to be miserable.

Second, today I received a text marking a turning point for a dear friend fighting cancer – a text with words like morphine, hospice, comfort and hope. It seems her ultimate journey home has begun. From the beginning, I’ve been in awe of her strength and courage. Even when she moved from solids to an all liquid diet, she didn’t complain. She appreciates each moment she has. Hope for her right now means that she will have little pain, that she will have dignity and comfort. Hope means she will get to leave the hospital and return home for in-home hospice for her remaining days.

Today has led me to consider gratitude. How the lack of gratitude causes harm and steals life’s joys. How a life lived in gratitude touches others and brightens the world even if one expresses that gratitude quietly from a hospital bed.

All that we can expect from this life is a unique journey that begins with a crying out followed by innumerable opportunities to learn and grow. Whether we appreciate each obstacle as a lesson, each person we meet as a teacher, that is our choice.