It’s not that anything particular has happened recently. But I’ve been thinking about the fact that challenges of all sorts do not necessarily keep company with the seasons rhythms. You can lose a job or receive a difficult diagnosis in the midst of the season of bounty as easily as any other season. I don’t know that I’ve ever really thought about this before, but perhaps it’s that the seasons and rhythms of our lives trump the year’s turnings…

When this happens, the disconnect between what’s going on outside and what’s going on inside can be great. Whether the challenge is ours or that of a beloved, our job is to remain open and present. Not everyone can do that. It does catch me off guard when people gradually withdraw from a relationship because a partner/friend/colleague has encountered one of life’s great roadblock. Not everyone who’s offered the challenge can stay present in it either.

But, because they’re challenges, they keep offering other opportunities to be the best we can be and to do the best we can. Because in the end, that’s all we can do.