Today I was asked if I had any encouraging words for someone that found themselves in the aftermath of major surgery. The condition was definitely life threatening, the surgery was very much a success. But the individual was left in a delicate situation — feeling very mortal, interrupted, on a slow mend, and seriously asking the question “What next?” Below is my response.
I think she is in a good place, or rather a good place to work from.
It will be wonderful when she has more confidence in her health.
But, meanwhile a little touch of “the realization of one’s mortality” is not a bad thing.
The question “what next” might not be “the” question but it’s definitely a good place to start.
Years ago EJ gave the following three lines (at least this is the formulation I wrote down at the time.
- Delighted to be here.
- Glad to be of service.
- What can I do to help?
These three lines form a chord.
Finding within one’s self the resonating tone of “delighted to be here” is the first note.
Opting in to the attitude “glad to be of service” is the second note.
From here, one can activate the search beacon “what can I do to help” — thus forming the third note and striking a work chord.
She is pretty much there. The above meditation/mentation/exercise might help take her the rest of the way.
Oh, one more thing. The answer to the question “what can I do to help” will be something at hand — at least that is my experience.
Let’s take the following postulate as true: within every chamber there will be at least one thing that you can do to help.
There is a chance that within a given chamber “can do” translates to “can do if you are able”.
If that happens to be the case, there is a very strong possibility that it is also true that one “can be able if only you accept an increment of transformation.”
In the spirit of full disclosure “can be able if only you accept an increment of transformation” in full would read “can be able if only you accept an increment of transformation and the results of that transformation.”
Hope this helps.