Life's Terms

Life’s Terms

What are the terms of the agreement?  You know, the agreement of life.  Funny thing…I’ve looked through lots of papers, books, articles, and the Bible.  Yet, there are no real terms of agreement for life, are there?

We are born.  We live.  We make choices.  We have joys.  We have sadness.  We celebrate.  We struggle.  We die.  No rule book to tell us how to do it all just right.  You have sex, you might get pregnant.  You drink or use drugs, you might become an alcoholic or an addict.  You love, you might lose.  You live, you will die.

There are laws of the land in which we live that we must follow, or pay the consequences.  There are laws of God we should follow for a life that will be pleasing to our creator, according to the Bible.  There are moral codes we follow naturally because it feels like the right thing–it must be how we were wired.  Yet, there are no hard and fast rules in our agreeing to be alive in this world.  There really are no ‘secrets of success’ that will work for everyone.  So we are left with this truth–Life is to be lived fully, as well as we can live in each moment.  Life is to be lived showing respect and love for our fellow human beings.  But there was no agreement we signed, no Book of Rules by which we agreed to live.  And so, we do the best we can, we screw up, we hurt people, we hurt ourselves, we love people, we learn to love ourselves, and with any luck we have made a difference in the world in which we are living.

Death is so final, isn’t it?  Or is it?  For those of us still walking around down on the ground,  losing someone we love is terribly final feeling.  There are lots of wonderful studies that explain why we feel what we feel, I suppose, but to me it’s just a part of how we are wired.  We don’t really have to understand it.  It’s just sad.  I feel sadness.  No one has told me to feel this way, any more than they told me to feel joy and ‘happy’ when I hear good news.

I am really trying to deal with my wiring today.  Such a mixture of emotions in my life.  Happy for finding someone I had lost.  Sad for losing someone I love.  Sad for lots of people losing someone they love.  I am weary of hearing great minds try to explain why I feel like I do.  It’s very simple for me: I feel.

We all feel.  That is how we were created, how we were wired…to feel.  I encourage you to feel whatever emotion you notice welling up within you.  I encourage you to embrace joy fully, sadness completely.  We are born.  We live.  We die.  Emilee was born.  Emilee LIVED.  Emilee died.  I feel sadness…for sisters who are now two instead of three, for parents who are one short of their original family, for grandparents who thought they were to die first, for friends who thought they were just having fun, for addicts who haven’t found their way to safe ground.  I feel anger…for substances that make us feel invincible, for humans who would rather punish instead of rehabilitate, for people who will judge actions they cannot understand.  I feel joy…for a body freed from its pain, for a mind freed of its confusion, for a beautiful soul that has brought light into so many lives.  

In my own life today, I have experienced utter joy with a gift unexpected and utter sadness at the loss of a life so precious.  Today, I am feeling.  I am feeling lots of emotions.  And at this very moment, I’m just so damn thankful I am here to feel!  I loved you, sweet Emilee.  Thank you for never stopping trying to be who you believed you could be!

 

 

10 Responses to “Life’s Terms”

  1. Susan – thank you for this lovely post. I think Emilee would have loved it. And you are so right about not pushing away those emotions. Sometimes we want to, but those feelings are what make us so uniquely human. Thank you for sharing yours, and being so you.

    • suezquesteen says:

      Thank you, sweet friend. I love that I live in a home where I am allowed to express those feelings…that I have an avenue through which to share. Human…we are.

  2. Vikki Williams says:

    So beautifully said. I have been brimmed with tears all day and now, having read your words, I’m overflowing. Thank you for saying the things I’ve been thinking and helping me find my release.

    • suezquesteen says:

      Thanks, Vikki. I don’t know where the words come from…they just do. I feel compelled to write them and to share them. I am honored by the response. I think Emilee is, too.

  3. Ms. Steen, this is beautiful. So many lives were torn and touched today from the sad news. Though I was not a personal friend of Emilee’s, I still feel the sadness and the hurt; it ripples throughout many lives today. Thank you for writing this. You have a wonderful and rare perspective on life, death, and spirituality. I’m so glad I found this.

    • suezquesteen says:

      Thank you for reading and commenting, Krista. Thank you for appreciating the beauty of life and the sadness that is death.

  4. Emily Orbison says:

    Well put, miss Steen. Emilee had such a sweet soul and will surely be missed.

  5. Debbi Caronna says:

    Such thought provoking words, Susan. My prayers go out to Emilee’s family and friends and all those that felt touched by her short life. Thank you for your perspective, I know that it helps others to sort through their feelings after having read your thoughts.

    • suezquesteen says:

      Thanks, Debbi. I think this is just a tough subject, a tough time. It’s nice to think that I’ve finally reached a new perspective in and about life!

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Thoughts to Encourage

Joy is the will which labors, which overcomes obstacles, which knows triumph.~ William Butler Yeats

Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right. - Henry Ford

The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost

Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. ~ Theodore N. Vail

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

You must be the change you want to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

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