I’ve a few “Martinisms”, little sayings that are special to me. One is “You will never know until you find out”. Another that I told my kids and it got me to the top floor of a very high walk up tower…”Master your fears dont let them master you”. “Sometimes in order to know what [poop] is you have to step in it”. (not necessarily or always by choice).
Sixteen months ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
For many years, I dont know when or how I came by the idea but one thought had begun to take hold of and change my life and that Martinism was ” Every moment has a gem in it, sometimes you must dig a little”.
There were a lot of things that helped me get through the last 16 months of being a cancer patient. That idea enabled me to maximize every moment. A few days ago I was being prepped for an IV, the placement of the needle had to have been one of the most painful I have ever experienced. The nurse, Jane, saw the look on my face and apologized, because of that idea that there is a gem in every moment I was able to respond to her kindness.. with…kindness. Of course at this point it had already become as much a part of me as my eyes are a part of me.
There are people who MUST fill every moment with SOMETHING, who never seem to relax. When they go on vacation they must DO and SEE things. The radio is always playing in their car and the TV is never off.
They save up their money and go on fantastic trips or cruises. Possibly to make up for the feeling that their weeks (and lives) are WORK and if you only get two weeks vacation a year BY GOD YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
I had a cousin visit. She claimed to be under a lot of stress and when I was told of all the things back home she was involved in I could understand why there was a frown on her face. The best compliment I’ve been paid in years was the faint smile on her face after being with us for a few hours. She probably wasnt even aware of it.
If you do not believe in the importance that every moment can bring to your life, you are far more likely to think that one MUST ARRANGE, PURCHASE and PLAN joy and meaning in one’s life. I believe that this is not a vague relationship, but an actual and tight correlation. Children become obstacles, traffic becomes an obstacle, people become obstacles to your fun. The product or ingredient that is missing from the store or shelf is a punishment for not having planned well enough.
Every moment has a gem in it. Yes a million dollars would be a lot of fun, but truly what good is a million or two million or a hundred million, if everything is an obstacle to be “dealt” with? The guy that cut in front of you on Rt 2 thinks that everyone including you are obstacles to his life.
Robert Frost on his first trip in a new fangled jet airplane, was invited up to the cockpit. The captain asked him “Isnt this fantastic?” Robert Frost replied “Yes but can you smell the flowers in that field down there?”
wish you all many gems
mm
thousandfeathers 