A Sunday Afternoon

Today I had a chance to talk with a new friend whom I met the other day during a church service on  a Wednesday night. She was telling me about her great career (go Nurse Practitioner!) and though it was exciting, what made me remember the most was her personal stories she shared with me.

Now, I have heard countless stories while working for a social service agency and I did this for five years, that is I heard hundreds and thousands of life stories, some were sad, some made me laugh and some were just head-scratching. At first, it was hard to understand and sympathize with the families I once called my "clients" but then as I became more proficient and good at the technical tasks at work, and not having to worry of my boss' nagging,  I learned to truly listen to their stories and be as neutral and non-judgmental as possible in all situations.

Today's story was different. I felt I could relate to her story and heartbreaks while I have never been in situations that she was in. She has a child and the kid was beautiful and observant just like any toddlers out there in the world. She has big brown eyes and light skin and as I watched her eating, I couldn't help but to continue watching her as she allowed her mother to feed her small pieces of the blueberry muffin that was served after the church service.  This child was a someone this new friend of mine was most proud of having and I couldn't help but enjoying how much love my friend was showing to the child.

This new friend of mine has gone through so much and I could see courage all over her face. And despite the fact that she is a bright person academically (NP schools makes their students work hard, from what I heard), I learned that just because we have our job and careers together, it doesn't mean life is perfect. There are other unexpected events that would hit us in the head and wake us up to to the reality that is right in front of us.  Steve Jobs once said, "Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." Life hits, or will hit, us in the head sometimes here and there and we shouldn't lose faith and any motivation to continue this road we call "life". But rather we should get back up after every fall and roll with the punches, as the saying goes.