Loss and Triumph

Last night my sister, family, friends, and I went to a presentation by Isabel Allende, a prominent Chilean writer and all around inspiring woman. Her personal story is one of loss and triumph - she lost her daughter and then found herself. In finding herself she discovered powerful truths about life she now shares with the world. Listening to her last night I picked up on some of these truths such as it’s ok to hurt, it’s ok to laugh, it’s ok to be yourself, and it’s ok to share your life's journey with others. She also talked about truths that resonate with my running journey. Asked what it takes to be great at anything she simply said it requires hard work. For example, when she's working on a book she spends 10 hours a day, 6 days a week writing. While writing her last book she became seriously ill, but that did not stop her from pushing forward. As soon as she finished the book she was miraculously healed.

This last part makes me think of my sister. Following her stroke last year, on my birthday, she was forced to ask some seriously hard questions about life for someone her age (she was only 29 at the time). These included wondering why God created her and why He gave her a second chance on life (literally). I never fully understood the seriousness of her stroke until last night when I read a section of a book she is finalizing. My God, I could have lost my sister, but thank God I didn’t. And now we are on a great journey together. Running is only the beginning.

You may be wondering what conclusions my sister has reached following her stroke. You will soon find out. She is working to complete a book that fuses prose and poems while chronicling her life’s joys and heartaches (including her stroke story). Having survived a stroke has blessed her with insight most people never attain (almost dying will do that for you). I jokingly tease her that supporting her book writing efforts raises my estrogen levels, but you know what, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I have a daughter to raise and if supporting my sister's journey helps me be a better daddy, I’m all for it.

The lesson in all of this is difficult to capture (you kind of have to live it) but allow me to put this out there. Life really is in the living. You have to take the good with the bad and thank God for it all. It’s not easy to understand why seemingly bad things happen at times but you always have a choice. You can roll with it or you can get rolled over by it. My sister and other great people choose to roll with it.

If you’re interested in Isabel Allende here is a presentation she gave at TED. She’s cheecky but in a down to earth way.