Fruit tastes sweeter

It feels like it's been forever since I've written. A new job has kept me busy. Working in a medical office has been fun and challenging. Talking to people who have cancer or fear they have cancer is emotional for me. I enjoy being a kind ear for them, though. In a dermatology office, cancer is on the minds of most people calling and coming in for appointments.

Today I had the unique experience of talking with an acquaintance/mutual friend who has recently been diagnosed with thyroid disease. She reached out online to ask if anyone had experience with it and we connected within a few hours. It is always rewarding to be able to compare stories and share my experience with people. I have done it a lot actually, through email with readers of this blog. I've had some very meaningful exchanges with some of you all. It means the world to me. I am just a vessel. I am not virtuous, but serve an amazing God who uses me to carry a message. Today I was shown again how I didn't go through what I went through for naught. My suffering was not just for me. I get to be of use to others. I will share what I shared with my friend:

What you are going through is a gift. People who haven't been through much can't appreciate life like we can. This new sense of mortality that you have now will serve you for the better. It is a better way of living, to know you could go at any time, and to have a peace about life. It makes you want to get your affairs in order, and not leave things unsaid. Tomorrow is not promised. Who says I get to live a long life and have a white picket fence and a family? Why am I owed that? I am owed nothing. And I was not promised roses. Everyone is dealt a hand and I know more than anything mine is roses compared to what some other people are facing. The level of gratitude and appreciation we get as a result of facing hard times like these is second to none. What's the saying, a calm sea doesn't make a skilled sailor? This hardship is molding you into the person you are supposed to be. This closeness to the divine and sense of peace won't always be there. Things will calm down and life will return to normal again, but you'll be shown later how your experience can benefit another. And there's no feeling like helping another, being purposefully useful. What happened to me, I wouldn't trade it. Fruit tastes sweeter*.



*I have been saying to myself "fruit tastes sweeter," about my experience ever since my second surgery when I basically had a spiritual experience while eating cantaloupe in my hospital bed. It was documented in a previous post. I was so hungry and wanted real food so badly, and on my last day I was given some ripe, juicy cantaloupe to eat. My head was crooked and I'm all swollen, and I eat this most delicious fruit. I'm telling you, it changed my outlook on life. It was so good. A spiritual experience can be characterized as anything that as a result leaves you feeling closer to the divine. This was definitely a big, warm hug from Spirit. Something like cantaloupe would have never tasted so good if I weren't in a sterile, muted hospital for four days. All about perspective.