Each of us is so very different and each has his or her own story. Some will be freely shared with whomever will stop and listen. Some will be held close and known only to the heart. Some will be shared over and over again as we forget it had already been told many times before. Some are so funny we laugh in the telling. others not so much.
Some may be fragmented – bits and pieces of many stories, all of which culminate to do a dance on our mood. It is then that you may wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Now that’s an awful way to start a day, but it happens. Yesterday had been full and when I woke this morning, I was a little grumpy to say the least. On such a beautiful day with a magnificent sunrise, how could anyone be anything but cheery. Yet, that was the way of it. So, naturally, I started to analyze. There just had to be a reason – anything that could justify such a state of mind.
Now my sisters would say, “You read too much into everything”. My granddaughters, “You can’t be happy all the time, Nan.” My son, in his gentle but practical way, might say, “It will pass. Just do something to take your mind off it.” So with all that advice and a few self-lectures, I jumped out of bed.
As I puttered away at some daily chores, I thought of yesterday’s fragments and then my mind went back to an old radio podcast from some months ago. It was one that captured my undivided attention as I listened to one woman’s story.
The young woman being interviewed was a journalist. She, her husband, and little child were in hiding in Pakistan having escaped from Alfanistan some time back. A single room and orders to be deported back to imminent danger. The conditions were worse than deplorable. It was terrifying and meant almost certain death for her.
Near the end of that interview, she spoke without hope or expectation of an answer. She simply said,
“What will be tomorrow?”
Yesterday, I sat by another woman and listened to her story – it was one of struggles and yet with so many wonderful hopes for the future.
Life certainly provides us challenges. For most, it will never compare to the dire circumstances of that young journalist. Nevertheless, each story is significant. Each is important. There’s many a day when we feel on shaky ground, not knowing what to do, where to turn and with uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps what we need to hear is “This too shall pass!” Whatever our story, each one needs to be heard. It matters!
And, out of the blue that iconic line from the old TV series, The Naked City, came to mind. It kept playing over and over,
“There are eight million stories in The Naked City. This has been one of them.”
I remember seeing a few of the episodes. I don’t recall any specifics about the show, but that line was just perfect.
There are so many. No matter where you go or how many you meet along the way, each one has a story. I remembered that when I woke up this morning.
If you wake in the morning
and feel a bit blue
and wonder whatever’s
the matter with you
Don’t go on a grouch
the rest of the day
and make other people
the penalty pay
Just try to suppress it
and put on a grin
and no one will know
what has happened within.
Speak a kind word, yea!
do a good deed,
and others your action
will certainly heed.
~ John Dale Kempster
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