Because You Do

 I wake to sunshine in the summer, cool morning breezes in the fall, white enchanted snow in the winter and the remnants of a new rain in the spring. I mark my days with weekend plans and pay checks. I am truly loved by a man whose eyes tell me so before any words leave his lips. I have grown children who have learned well and taught me much along the way.. My parents supported me, guided me and let me grow into my own ideals and values as they loved me unconditionally. There are people in my life that I dearly love and we are bound by blood or marriage or deep friendships. And I have a career that teaches me so much more about human survival…there just aren’t words.

     Yet sometimes over the years I have wondered how I came to live this life. Usually this would wander into my head after I see the pain and difficulties others face, many throughout their whole lives..Some in very young lives. But how did I get this life? Why me? A simple answer taps me on the shoulder and whispers in my ear- “because you do.” Yet something in me, deep in me where love and hope are kept tells me that life isn’t simply good/bad, right/wrong and “because you do” is not the whole but a piece of the puzzle. So it makes me uncomfortable and pulls at my conscience and tells me to not waste this opportunity.

For there are many who have no sunshine in their lives, the morning is a harsh reminder to them of another day to make it through. Fall is simply a reminder of what is yet to come. The winter snow is cold and impersonal and the spring rain is purely wet. Many live in fear, pain, torment and loneliness. Love only comes with conditions. How do they march on? How do they walk next to me on the street yet live so differently when our paths are no longer shared?

     So every morning when I feel the sunshine on my face or the breeze through my hair, the snow glistening on the trees or the smell of a fresh rain, I try to remind myself of not wasting this. Live in the moment, recognize it and appreciate it. I haven’t figured out the riddles of life but believe me I have thought much about it. I can’t explain to someone why they walk a different path…but
I can help them feel their life is valid whether it is a smile, random act of kindness, listening to their story, providing encouragement or simply accepting them as a person. Then I have a moment of clarity and that simple answer suffices “because you do.”