“Behind all this, some great happiness is hiding.”
~ Yehuda Amichai
In the midst of the trial,
The tunnel’s length and breadth
Swallowed up its ending light.
Or did our anger and our grief
Destroy that, too?
In the dark, we clung
We to He
You to Me
Me to You
Fear of death
~ Worse yet ~
Fear of life like this
Stopped us in our tracks
And then
Pushed!
Pushed us
To push back, push on, push through.
Stubborn will, paternal fight, future’s-sight
Love
Were all we knew.
And they grew
Until
Thanks to the process? … luck? … good will?
We found the happiness.
Always there. Never gone.
Hiding just behind,
All along.
“push back, push on, push through”
Some days all we feel is resistance.
And the fear, “of a life like this.”
“A life like this…” carries a lot of weight, doesn’t it, V?
The biggest influence in individual happiness is ourselves. Abe Lincoln said “A person is generally about as happy as he’s willing to be.” But our capacity for happiness lies in the quality of our intermost familys’ relational dynamic. “Stubborn will, paternal fight, future’s-sight” is the test that spans the generations. Your words inspire me to remember to do my part for others, both young and old.
I have learned, too, Mark, that I am as happy as I choose to be. On occasion, the choice has to be very, very conscious! I’m glad you came here. I’m glad you shared, old friend!