May 3, 2023
“This too shall pass”
– Anonymous
Some of us can only deal with one crisis at a time. Otherwise we feel like we’re going to explode emotionally. A diagnosis of cancer and the need for tests and treatments, on top of bills to pay, a child with an addiction, an abusive boss, a flat tire and then a death in the family.
It’s just too much, and we begin to feel like the biblical character Job, who was a good man and enjoyed life when suddenly he was beset with disaster after disaster. In the Book of Job, he struggles to make sense of it all, without any compassion from his friends or wife. It’s easy for all of us to despair when so much tragedy assaults us. On those occasions, it helps to remember to take life, “one day at a time” … and one crisis at a time.
Life is never simple or neat. We can rarely confront our trials one at a time, deal with them and move on to the next. No, they’re all there at once, staring us in the face when we wake up in the morning. And death is one trial that we can’t change or make better. It’s a reality we have to face, often amid a backdrop of family chaos and confusion.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, those in recovery learn what is called the Broken Shoelace Theory. You think life is going well for you. You think you have everything under control because you’re dealing with big challenges, such as the loss of a loved one, without picking up that first drink. Then, something as insignificant as a broken shoelace pushes you over the edge.
There’s another saying that applies when life becomes too much to bear, “This too shall pass.” It may sound trite, but there’s a lot of truth to it.
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Life will seldom give you the luxury of confronting one crisis at a time. Sometimes they seem to surround you. Take them a day at a time.