Week Twenty Three Sunday’s Grateful List – I am grateful that I believe in the human capacity to show compassion and have courage and strength . 

  Today I am overwhelmed by the difficult stories about human suffering that I constantly read and that people tell me. I am overwhelmed by the ability of individuals to deal with the suffering. I am saddened when people fall through the cracks and commit suicide or commit other terrible crimes such as murder. I am saddened  that terrorism exists. I am amazed and grateful that many people are incredibly resilient and manage difficult times and that humans have compassion, strength and courage. 

Some examples of these stories of courage are

1. My grandmother Joan Henley  raised two children while my grandpa was away at war. My uncle David was conceived before my grandpa went to war and he didn’t return from war until my uncle was two. My grandma w as a single mother  until he returned and then had to deal with the after effects of the war on his health. 

2. Robyn Bailey, a radio announcer on 97.3 is raising three children following the suicide of her husband Tony.

3. A friend of mine lost her  8 year old daughter to Leukemia. 

5. My friends have a son who has many disabilities. They are always his advocate and loving parents and have two other children to love and parent also. 

6. My friend lost her older  sister to cancer.

7. The Morcombes lost a son to kidnap and murder. 

8. My friend has a mother who is battling leukemia at present. 

9. My friend lost her husband two years ago. He went out on a bike ride and had a heart attack while riding and didn’t come home.

10. My friends  lost a child who was about to be born. 

11. My friend has a difficult child who has not contacted her for quite awhile and she is trying to contact him. 

12. My friend is living with the debilitating effects of Lyme Disease. 

13. Rosie Batty had a son who was murdered by his father. 

14. My friend had a son who was killed in a car accident when he was 26 years old. 

There are many many more stories of people who have had grief in their lives. 

In each of these situations I am saddened that these events have happened to these individuals. I would love to be able prevent these events from having occurred but I can’t. Each  of them are dealing with the grief in different ways. I believe they will manage this grief their whole lives and make it part of their life rather than get over what has happened. I know each of these people have used different strategies to cope but I also know each of these people have connected with other humans and have been offered compassion by members of their community. I may not be able to change the situation but I can provide a listening ear or a heartfelt hug. I love that the human race is able to do this and I believe that we are getting better at showing compassion. 

Today I am grateful that humans are able to show resilience and strength when terrible things happen. 

Today I am grateful I am able in some small way to help others when terrible things happen. 

Today I am grateful that others have helped me to stay resilient and brave when something terrible happened to me. 

Today I am grateful that humans continue to strive for happiness and I hope that the compassion that is present in our world continues to grow and continues to touch more and more people. 

  
  

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1 Response to Week Twenty Three Sunday’s Grateful List – I am grateful that I believe in the human capacity to show compassion and have courage and strength . 

  1. Karen says:

    Thanks for sharing Jen. There are indeed so many sad stories of pain and suffering, both physical and emotional. Sometimes life can be so tough. Remaining positive is often difficult. x

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