The Wisdom to Know the Difference

Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble to find a reflection book for a friend that is in the hospital after a debilitating fall. She will need surgery to repair the leg she broke and there will be along difficult recovery to face after that. I found a book I hope will be useful. One never knows about spirituality books. I don’t really know what she needs to hear right now. When I brought it to her, she seemed grateful. She said she is in too much discomfort to be able to read anything with length. A couple of minutes in the morning she thought she could handle and she said she could use the support.

On the display table next to the one I bought for my friend, there was another that invited me to buy it: The Wisdom to Know the Difference by Eileen Flanagan. I tried walking away several times but in the end, the book won. This morning I opened ‘er up and read the introduction. I’ve had this experience before when I thought I was doing something for someone else and it turned out to be about me. God only knows what the meditation book will do for my friend, but I can clearly see that this other book is what I need to be reading right now.

The fact is, there are several things going on in my life right now that I am finding difficult to understand and accept, difficult enough to cause a meltdown now and then. Flanagan offers words in her introduction that make me feel hope. How it will help me is yet to be discovered, but I can actually feel a bit of serenity just seeing the words in print:

While I can chart my own course in life, I don’t control the sea around my little boat. I can’t guarantee that I won’t get knocked into the waves, though I can learn to swim in case I do. I’ve found that recognizing both my power and my powerlessness is useful when facing life’s storms.