“I’m so happy for you!”
We always want the best for people, never more so than those we love. I am so fortunate to have great persons in my life with whom I have years of history, experiencing horrible times, wonderful times, and everything in between. It’s not realistic to think life will be all good but we still hope and do all that we can to create happiness for ourselves and others.
Over the last few months I have been experiencing a visceral reaction to what’s happened to a few of my favorite people. One is finally settled into her new apartment after a year-long ordeal due to her ex-husband destroying their thirty-five year marriage. She is now divorced and living in a beautiful home where she can relax and recharge and be at peace. I have walked this journey with her, as she has done with me, and I have spent the last twelve months picturing her in this place. And now she is there and she is happy and she is free. The strong feelings I have about it have me tearing up when I think of her in this space and in this place, knowing what it took to get there, and honestly my heart could burst. I swear I feel like I have won the lottery I am so damn thrilled for her.
Another best person I know is fighting hard to,change jobs and careers. I began this blog in 2010 when I lost my job and was searching for a new opportunity because I wanted to share that torturous process so many of us were going through during the country’s financial crisis. Eight years later, every position she applies for, every phone screen she has to endure, every face-to-face interview, the waiting, DEAR GOD THE WAITING, makes my belly hurt for her. I know what she is capable of and that she needs to use her skills and experience to make a contribution that is fulfilling to her as well. I am pulling for her so hard that sometimes I honestly get beside myself, wanting to march into a potential employer’s office on her behalf and make them see that they are FOOLS to hire anyone but her.
And then there’s my husband. This past Sunday he met three of his sports heroes in a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Going into it I was filled with apprehension and fear that they would disappoint him or the event would be a bust. Instead, the entire day was magic, and I saw my laid-bac-to-the-nth-degree-I-teasingly-call-him-rigor-mortis husband get choked up,and emotional several times. And in the midst of his joy I felt my own legs shaking and my eyes filling with tears. I could not have been more excited for him without spontaneously combusting.
I am lucky to be so,connected to other human beings. For without them there is no happiness, not theirs to share and certainly not my own.
