Still Standing

"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand."-e.e. cummings

  "Still standing in spite of the wind!" An elderly lady I worked with in one of my first jobs used to say that when asked how she was doing. She had a bunch of similar sayings at the ready for that same question. Sometimes she would say "Able to sit up and take nourishment!" (which was a reference to a thing nurses used to say when reporting the condition of a patient). At that one she would produce a hearty laugh and not care a bit if no one else got the joke. Another one was "None the worse for the wear and tear."

So, how are you doing? 

It is amazing how few people really want to know the answer to that question. It has become a conversation starter, but the person asked is expected to say "Oh, fine!"

(Not "I am not doing well. My------died, I have pains in my------,my marriage is ------, I ---my job.") Most people don't want to hear that. Not even your best friends.  

I am noticing how many people are facing one kind of adversity or another these days. Yeah, the economy is crappy. We are getting older. The world is changing. But, there is a definite unrest going around. Like a flu virus. Hitting people suddenly and knocking them down.

Yet, I love it when I come across someone unaffected. Someone healthy and joyful in spite of the weather or the economy or the flu.

Normally, I am easily influenced by my circumstances and the weather. I take on emotional stuff that isn't mine. I get sucked into feeling blue for no reason whatsoever.

But it is possible to control my reaction to the junk around me. I can turn things around back to joy.

Sometimes I need help.

So I pray. I talk to close friends. I hang out with kids. I laugh about something I find amusing- even if no one else gets it.  I swim. I create something. I remember things.

It takes a little practice and paying attention to "whatsover things are pure, true", etc. But, the more I do it, the less I notice the wind. I feel stronger and more solid. Like a leafless tree in winter-still standing.