On Becoming
I love the song by Tenth Avenue North that goes:
You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.
Today I find these words especially applicable to the news from a friend in my transplant support group who after two heart transplants over a nearly fifteen year span of grit and fight, she now needs a kidney transplant to stay alive. Her ordeal is nothing she can’t handle; in fact, she is one of the strongest and resilient human beings I have met so far along my own journey with a heart transplant. What makes this challenge different is that this time it’s not just herself she is fighting for. Two years ago she and her husband became parents together after adopting a baby girl. More than ever, I am reminded by my friend’s struggles that our bodies are only a small part of who we really are.
Not just flesh and blood, our bodies are the vehicles we are given here on Earth to experience feelings, spread love, and enrich our spiritual journeys. Remembering who we really are at our core and sharing that understanding with others is at the core of our self-actualization.