The Great Life Changer

"I just don't know why I have been feeling so uncertain, so upset inside."

• Kim Fish
  

The Great Life Changer

I walked into my office and saw Kim sitting at her desk so I stuck my head through the doorway to say hello. As I did so my thoughts were immediately shuttled around to the significant events of her recent past.

Kim has a father and a step father. She's very close to both of them. That's why her experience of having them both pass away this year has been so difficult. She and her mother just returned from laying both men to rest within the past two months. Kim's view of the world is forever changed.

Even though her view has changed, I watched her get back on her feet and find her center once again. Her smile returned and it was great to see her laugh again. Then, two weeks ago the hand of providence reached her way again.

I remember seeing her in flight as she rushed toward the elevator bank to flee. In moments she had disappeared behind stainless steel doors. It was clear to me that something was wrong so I asked a colleague what had happened.

"Her niece was just killed in a traffic accident," she said.

My heart sank.

"She's on her way to Seattle with her mother so they can attend the funeral."

I remember thinking, "Hasn't Kim had enough?"

She was back now. So was my mind.

I finished my hello and walked through the door. The feeling in the room was somber. I didn't know what to say except for a careful, "How are you?" It was the kind of "how are you?" that meant, how are you dealing with the loss of your loved ones.

Kim looked up at me and said, "I just don't know why I'm feeling so uncertain, so upset inside."

I knew why. "It isn't easy to lose one loved one in the recent past, much less three!" I replied.

We sat and talked for a few minutes. I mostly listened. I didn't know what to say for the longest time. After all, how could someone as inexperienced and weak as me fill the huge void created by death?

Then my mind caught hold upon the "great life changer."

I have a small piece of blue paper on my desk. It's the size of a business card. I got it from my uncle Truss a few years ago. He gave it to me at a family wedding just after his wife had passed away.

I'll never forget his small, aged, trembling hands reaching into his wallet as we talked. "I want you to have this," he said. I looked down at it. The words were written in black and filled the small paper. "Keep an attitude of gratitude."

"Keep this with you," my uncle said. "It will keep your heart full of joy even in the most difficult of times." Then he gave me a hug and went off to talk to other family members with a spring in his step.

My Uncle Truss knows what he's talking about. He's buried two wives and has raised a wonderful family over a long life. And, he's done it with a never failing twinkle in his eyes!

Suddenly a twinkle came back to my eyes as I was able to pass this wisdom on to my friend Kim. We talked about gratitude and everything she has in her life. You know, it wasn't too long before Kim was laughing. Gratefully, she had found her smile again!

Everyone will have times in their life when they're really challenged so I'm sure you will too. When that happens in your life, I hope you'll remember this story of an aged man; the story of a man who has lived his life well. Remember the never failing twinkle in his eyes. Watch him pull the little blue paper from his wallet. Receive the paper in your hand and read it. "Keep an attitude of gratitude."

Let gratitude fill your heart and in the end, you'll always have a twinkle in your eyes too!