In Sickness or In Health

I am not feeling too well of late. It's strange how just a few days ago, I was well and running around and the next moment I'm down with fever and flu. Now, my whole body aches and I struggle just to walk a short distance. It is like a dizzy and surreal walk on a floating pontoon. I can't make sense of what seemed common-sense in better days. I can't even look for something that is right in front of me! I take a long time to make sense of what others say to me. Data retention in my mind seems so hard. It is unbearable even to lie in bed with this acheing body and a persistent painful thundering cough that makes my body curl.

"In this situation, is it possible to be 'above it all'?", I wonder. This is what Father Anthony De Mello said. Is it possible to accept it and not fight it? Father De Mello said that our happiness must not be dependent on anything (including good health), for if we are attached to it, we lose our happiness. That means, to be happy even when we are sick! It is indeed sobering now to 'walk the talk' to see if I can really be happy.

Then, as I logged into my email, I got this message in my daily contemplation subscription:


Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. -- Saint Francis de Sales

post scriptum: It is a big struggle to put up this post, but I thought it is best to write it now while I am totally in the midst of it. :)

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Here's someone whom I think is above it all. She is six years old. That's probably why. :)
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