Pulling a Trick – Entry Twenty Seven

It occurs to me that we often look around, like witnesses to a theft.
We see people who live in hard times or who endure life. Seemingly, I find myself wondering how they do it.
How does someone endure pains or the different stages of loss?

I have witnessed people who live in humble standings, or people who endure loss or letdowns which are engrained in their everyday living, and still, they manage to smile.
I know people who manage to get up, every day, despite life’s challenges, and they are still fair and kind and happy.
I admire this.

How do you get through life?
I think that this is a valid question.

Since we are talking about finding our tricks, then I have to ask, what about these tricks?
What about the tricks that someone can pull to help them survive?
Or at minimum, what are the tricks that help someone stand when they have no strength to get back up?
Is this more about attitude? Or regardless of physical ability and the muscles on our body, is this the true means of strength?

What’s the trick that helps someone keep their chin up when their surroundings weigh them down?
These are valid questions too, which are relatable, yet few people ask these questions out loud, or when they ask, perhaps the questions are rhetorical and asked in a way of saying, “How would I be if that were me?”
Would I be okay?
Would I quit?
Or would I find excuses and keep my life in the misery of self-pity and contempt?

I think these are all valid questions.
How would I get by if I lost everything?
How would I be if I had to swim with the sharks?
Or in the land of the proud, how would it be if someone fell from their high horse? Equally, how would it be if they had to walk for a while? Or as for those who fell from their ranks, what’s it like for them to be back with the so-called peasants that they once used to get ahead?

How does one survive the brutal times? How does anyone get through the harsh reality that there is no easy way through this? No one is going to come along to rescue you. No one is going to advocate for you and, to some degree, no one is going to even care.

This is the truth.
In fact, you have told me this more times than I can count, and I suppose that I’ve always known this from an intellectual standpoint.

However, and emotionally, I suppose that everyone hopes to find a hero. Everyone prays to find something, like the discovery of a four-leaf clover, or a sign that life is about to turn around.
We all hope for a quick fix, like hitting a jackpot or winning the lotto.
I believe there is always hope.
I believe there will always be the hope that luck will change and so will fate.
So will our destiny, and ah, when we find ourselves basking in the glory of a beautiful sunset with a golden sky, just after a day when the heart is full, we can look back with a sense of fulfillment, as if to be whole again, or complete. And yes, we can say that, at last, we have found our purpose.

But this is life through the eyes of emotion.
This is life when hinged upon passion, and more, this is life from an emotional standpoint.
And that’s fine. However, while I do not forgo the ideas of hope nor will I omit the thrills of passion, nor will I waive or renounce my dreams because I do believe in hope and desire. Therefore, I heartily agree that life does not come easy.
Nothing is free from effort. This includes our happiness, along with love, and the enthusiasm of joy.
All of this needs air to breathe because not even unconditional love can survive in a vacuum.

We have to work.
We have to adapt, and we have to grow. Nothing is ever still or the same. The clock moves and hence, time is always ticking.
We know the earth is turning, regardless if we can feel this or not.
Either way, we know the sun goes down and the moon comes along until daybreak, which is when the sun comes back to take the center stage again.

I am a fan of the suggestion that says, “the only way to it is through it.”
This means we can procrastinate and come up with excuses and stall for time. I know this because I am a master at this too.
Or we circle back and relive the pain or the heartbreak, or we can complain and lament, and make life harder be reliving old pains to keep them fresh.
Or, we can choose to move forward.
We can make a change.

No one is going to decide for us. No one is going to remind us that we are worth more when we trade ourselves for less.
No one can see color through our eyes. No one can feel from our heart, and no one can push us or make us rise. No one can do this for us unless we choose to make this so.

No one asks to be weak. Then again, no one asks for life’s terms to happen and make them stronger.
I had a friend recently tell me that God does not give people more than what they can handle.
I responded that perhaps God shouldn’t have so much faith in me.
I understand the thought which says I’d be fine to be weaker and less challenged.
But life didn’t ask me my opinion.
No, life happened.
Nobody asks to lose it all. However, in the case where life seems to fall apart, or when all else has failed, or in the case of the proud falling from their high horse and having to walk awhile, there has to be a trick which helps us find the strength to get up and endure.

The only way to it is through it.
I have learned that a person cannot save their face and their ass at the same time.
I have learned this firsthand.
I have created my own dilemmas and nurtured my misfortunes. I have made mistakes. I have regretfully hurt good people to which I understand that I am not alone, and that yes, I am human.
However, while it is human to err, being human is not an excuse. Therefore, accountability must come into play.

I look at people I know. And I know them well.
I think about their health or their fears and their legitimate challenges, and whether their challenges are physical, financial or emotional is simply unimportant.
I am amazed.
How does one come back from the irreversible? How does someone fall down and manage to dust themselves off?
How does a person survive the unthinkable and find humility and the courage it takes to recover their position and grow beyond compare?

I know that I am fortunate.
I have more than I consider and while my problems may seem luxurious to others, this does not repair the sharp edges of a broken heart. Nor does this solve the riddles of the soul, or lastly, the fact that I am fortunate does not remove fear nor pain, nor does this execute the villains of shame or the thoughts of betrayal.

I am aware that I have two legs, which are strong enough to carry my weight.
I am aware that I can stand on my own two feet.
I know what it’s like to fall from my high horse and have to walk.
I know what self-inflicted humiliation means and the guilt of self-exposure.
However, I do understand the need to have true sorrow for our sins.
I know that while forgiveness may not be granted by others, one cannot live, survive, or succeed with the destructive idea that “this is it” and “everything is ruined.”
We have to pardon ourselves and free our mind.
Forgiveness has to begin within.

How does one find their own resilience?
How do we find the secret of our endurance?

If no one can stop the train of thought except for us, then how are we going to save our own life?
We have to do this, you know?
As in, every day.
How are we going to redirect our focus to preserve our energy?
Finally, how are we going to pace ourselves and keep from exhaustion? I ask this because when it comes to regaining our composure, or when it comes to rebuilding our life and pulling a trick, how does one find the strength it takes to not only endure, but also thrive and achieve as well?

It takes work.
Some people are not willing to work which is why their dreams are not for them.

Excuses are a waste.
Remember this.

Some will tell about their dreams and never dare. Some will realize that there is a point of diminishing returns; in which case, we realize that a change is happening.
But that’s okay.
We made it this far which means we have already gone through wars and still—the enemy trembles because, above all, we are stronger than we believe.

The only way to it is through it.
There is no more time to waste.

The sun is about to wake up.
And me?
I have a life to save.
I have a purpose to achieve and a recovery to consider.
But first, I have an appointment to keep.

Last gulp of coffee and yes . . .
I’m ready to go.