(By Cathy Garrott)
A friend asked me this morning, “How are you doing?” His question was genuine, and was an expression of his real concern for me. I responded, “Oh, I’ll live, and I MAY even prosper!” He laughed and said, “You’re okay!”
Webster defines “THRIVE” in this way: 1. To grow vigorously; do well 2. To gain in wealth or possessions; PROSPER, FLOURISH. Roget’s thesaurus likens it to success, health, and strength. There are many days that I feel NONE of that! I just want to ignore the world, curl up, and be done with the struggle to enjoy what life I have. Some days I feel I am doing more surviving than I am thriving.
I’ve had to learn to delight in things I never dreamed would bring me joy … being able to exercise without pain (I never thought I’d delight in “exercise” for any reason at all!), losing weight by lowering my calorie intake (I never thought I’d delight in NOT eating for any reason at all), finding a doctor who knows how to deal with my health issues (I never thought I’d delight in going to a doctor for any reason at all), etc. Rather than “gaining in wealth or possessions” I find that I am letting go of things that used to seem so important to me.
Maybe I am re-defining “thrive” … I am learning to think beyond the temporal and concentrate on the eternal. As Paul advised … whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
Contact Cathy at cathy@shinsei.org
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