Did You Get Your Handbook for Life?

I didn’t receive my copy.
When they were giving them out, mine must have gotten dropped, given to someone else, or lost.  I didn’t get mine.  Did you get yours?  

The first time I got into a real argument with a friend, I was maybe 10 or 11 years old.  I didn’t know what to do.  Where was my handbook for life to tell me?  I don’t know.  I eventually learned how to handle conflict with others but it would take many more disagreements.

The first time I got my heart broken, I felt about 2 inches tall and like my heart had been ripped out of my chest.  What chapter tells you about how to heal from heartbreak?  I don’t know.  I didn’t have my handbook for life.  But I learned to always get back up and always found love again.

The first time I didn’t get the job I wanted, I worried that I wasn’t good enough.  This would happen over and over again.  Was I good enough?  Yes, and I would learn this too.

The first time I lost someone I deeply loved, I couldn’t control my tears.  I felt a pressure in my chest that felt like it would explode at any moment.  People wanted to talk to me but I couldn’t utter the words back.  I didn’t understand what I was feeling but it felt permanent and overwhelming.  And my handbook for life wasn’t there to tell me it was going to be okay, that I would always miss the person but that I would also heal.  But I did learn that with time.

One day I realized, my handbook for life was LIFE.  

It was my family and friends who picked me up when I was down, helped me to see the hope of tomorrow, gave me unconditional love when I needed it most. 

It was my spiritual practice, the continual journey I realized I was on that showed me light in the darkness. 

It was my resilience and determination to learn and understand from the things that made me feel lost.