I’ve been volunteering at Children’s Hospital on Tuesday afternoons. I was drawn to this volunteer opportunity so that I could continue my work with children and also because I spent two weeks at Children’s for major surgery when I was 10 years old. It was two of the most memorable and happy weeks of my life. I have never felt so loved and I wanted to return that love. My worry was that I might want to rescue the sick children… that it would be difficult to spend just a few hours with them and then leave.
What I have discovered is quite the opposite. I have learned that the greatest gift I can give to the children and their families is to love them… right where they are. Love them in the midst of their illness and their recovery and their stress and their uncertainty. I have learned that my work is not to save or rescue or fix anything but rather to just love and accept where they are in their lives. It is a privledge and a great honor to step into someone’s life, this life that they have created. It is a perfect life – even in the midst of illness. Giving several hours of my week to embrace a child or a parent right where they are has turned out to be a tremendous gift, not only to them, but also to me.
And so I learn to embrace my own life… exactly where I am. My life is perfect, even and especially with all its imperfections. This is the life I have chosen. These are the lessons I am learning. These are the challenges and the joys that I came to experience. There is no other place for me to be. HERE AND NOW.
What is Life for You?
Where are you looking for your life? What makes you feel most alive? What is life to you? Ponder these questions and enjoy them.
Now today, moment by moment, realize that each person and event that happens is life for you. Life is not somewhere else. See how fully you can accept the life that presents itself to you now.
~Brenda Shoshanna~
The last 6 sentences of your blog is exactly what I am meditating on, and practicing. I have lots of time in addition to morning awakening – one hour in my car each morning, and each evening. Love, Ann
Wow! Such a wonderful experience and great way to give back:)!