Bolt of Lightning

Sometimes in life, just when you think everything is close to perfect, from seemingly nowhere, a bolt of white lightning strikes. It can be a sudden accident, a piece of very bad news from afar, or like mine, a serious family health issue that occurs to a person very close.  The words, "it's a tumour and we are not sure, until we remove it, if it is cancerous" throws one suddenly into an unimaginable place. The stable world you once lived in, suddenly has a huge crack in it, a cavernous opening in the solid substance you thought you could trust, and you know you can't allow yourself fall into it. Why? You may be needed. You hear the news, but you don't believe it. It's just too much for your mind to process quickly. The worst is, that it is news, not about you, but about someone you love as much as life itself. You feel that if it were about you, you could deal with it in some cursory manner, but because it happens to someone else, you feel helpless. You are secondary to the problem. You nod and sit down and begin to think about the accompanying intricacies, possibilities, hopes if there are any of them, to be had. Your feelings are about as far down as they can get, but at the same time, you can't let go, you can see only the positives. It's human nature to seek goodness even if it's out of something so bad, it can barely be comprehended. We humans are strong and resilient creatures. We are survivors. We are flesh and blood and thus very delicate, but our strengths are to get through, no matter what. We are hopeful beasts who don't lie down and give up. We fight in some way. And further more, the negatives, if allowed to rule, would be too horrendous to process. But gradually, painfully, orderly, we sort through what  to do next: how to deal with this news, how we can help the individual who received the news about him/herself and who to call on if need be, for help. There are professionals trained to deal with these very things and we have to seek them out.  We try to find solutions to the problem with those knowledgeable, and that process happens over the next phase continuously. It takes a few days for everyone to come down to the realities facing us and those we love. We make a plan to follow whether formally or not. We gather around us those who care, and find great comfort in the sharing of our hopes and our efforts. The "bolt of lightning" that strikes can be used to give us the energy to do what we have to do.  And we do the best we can.