Happiness in a Storm

The front desk was backed up and the check in line was getting longer, as I watched him slowly move inch by inch with his wife by his side.  He was big, wore scuffed up cowboy boots, a work shirt, and a dirty ball cap.  When I came out from the diagnostic lab I went up to his chair, “You shine those boots for your appointment?” he smiled.  They were from North East Louisiana, and he had been coming to MD Anderson for 5 years with kidney cancer.  He and his wife talked about the heavy rain they had driven through to get to Houston and through the high water crossing with cattle standing in water up to their shoulders.  They talked about the towns where they had taken short breaks from the storm, getting a little rest so they could start driving again. 

The more we talked I realized he could have been talking about life and our dance with life’s challenges and despairs.  Being fully human is feeling our mortality, but saying YES to our aliveness, which feeds our resilience and gets us back on the road even in high water.  Years ago, I had dinner with Dr. Wendy Harpham, author of Happiness in a Storm, who teaches survivors, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.”