As the months go by during my Covid convalescing, I continue to relapse in and out of health. It makes my heart hurt to think of all the people suffering in the world not only of Covid but of all illness and lack of health be it mental or physical. When people ask me how I’m doing, I feel my own shame and embarrassment that I have not bounced back. That I continue to struggle. I know what it takes to survive in this world and being ill does not seem to fit in. Yet so many suffer this way. Where do they go, how do they live? Like a wounded animal, I feel to hide and retreat. Partly because it’s what my body desperately needs to recover of course and the other part because it takes too much energy to explain the reality and perhaps be misunderstood. It’s reasonable that if one has not had any chronic illness or suffered in the physical sense, it is hard to understand. This isn’t a choice to be sick. It’s a continual surrender to what is. It’s excruciatingly painful on many levels. But what I feel my message to myself and others is, is to contemplate and have compassion for the less fortunate, the ill and the elderly. If I didn’t have my generous friends and family to support me, I’m not sure what I would’ve done through this time. And it breaks my heart to think of the people that suffer alone through challenging situations.

There are many ways to support the unfortunate. Donations, giving blood, whatever our hearts are called to do. It could be as simple as a smile to a wheelchair bound soul or perhaps it’s sending out healing love in your meditation to those in need. Or maybe it’s simply to listen to the friend that is struggling and without judgment let that story land, allowing yourself to feel the pain of another and have it touch your heart.