Life has a way of suddenly rearing up and throwing stink-bombs at you….a young friend of mine (25 years old!) has been diagnosed with a 2-cm hole in the heart, which, by virtue of its position, needs major surgery for closure (sometimes such holes can be fixed laparoscopically.) In the course of the diagnosis, diabetes was also discovered, and the path towards surgery has become further complicated. I feel miserable that I am so far away from this young couple at this time. However, the internet allows me to keep in touch, and I wrote to them, likening their lives now to a train journey….the Passenger Train to the Good Health Terminus.

I feel this simile is apt, because once ill health strikes, there is the hopeful journey forward towards eventual good health…but it will have a lot of stops along the way, like a passenger train. There will be good stations, and bad ones…good things, and not-so-good things, will happen. But the train will go rolling on….

Another thing I have found, while dealing with projected plans of action, is that “healthy (pun intended) pessimism” works for me. I expect delays and checks…so if they happen, yes, I can take them in my stride…and if they don’t…I feel happy that this part of the journey is smoothly accomplished.

Having said this…I think that it is NOT easy to continuously feel positive. There are the doubts, the “why me”, and the “what if”. They keep rising like thickets of weeds, in our mind. It’s a constant battle and we have to keep fighting! Prayer, puja, homa, friends, family, humour, meditation…I take whatever help comes along. The confidence that I build up this way is the currency that will get me through this difficult train ride!

In a way, I suppose, this way of handling things works for me, no matter what difficulties I face in life. I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to laugh at myself, and at my checks and reverses, and to me, being able to deal positively with the stink bombs is the ultimate victory. RSH (Random Shit Happens)…but if we are able to grapple with the shit and move forward, we have been successful in defeating what life has thrown at us.