There Is No Stupid Question

Life is a beautiful thing.  It can also be ugly, funny, horrific and about any other descriptive word you can think of.  Usually, all those things will describe your life.  Or my life.  Each moment in life is broken into moments where we see things in those moments.  One minute we can be on top of Mount Rainier, overlooking the beautiful sights of Western Washington.  The next minute we can be trying to find the rip cord as we free fall towards earth.  We may be rejoicing at the birth of our 5th child, or mourning the loss of a loved one.  Each moment, distinct in our perception of how life is and how we walk through those stages.  They make us.  They break us.  We are today because of those yesterdays.

How do we handle those yesterday's?  When do we heal?  How do we heal?  Do we ever, "get over," each of these moments?  How do we, "move on," when heartbreak hits?  How can someone celebrate life when they are going through cancer treatment?  So many questions that all pertain to living each day when  the hits, the punches, the falls, the get back ups and the victories are everywhere around you.  We ask the, "what if's," and the, "did this just happen's," constantly.  Like the Energizer Bunny, the questions seem to never end.

All of us deal with these questions and answers differently.  Me, I don't have the answers to many, if any of these questions.  And the answers I might have are different for everyone.  And your answers might help me out, but not your neighbor.  I don't get it.  I would love it if there were a simple answer for all of life's crazy.  But, I'd also get really bored if every one of your life's questions were the same as my life questions.

But, there is one thing I know.  One thing I've had to explain to some of my Uber riders that I'll share here.  Ask.  Ask me how I handle things.  Ask how you should look at things.  Ask how your brother has survived his loss of his wife to the auto accident.  Ask how your sister has lived with gestational diabetes.  Ask your best friend what it's like to retire from the military and how hard it's been to get a job in the civilian world.  Ask your aunt how they have kept a smile on their face when your cousin continues getting arrested.  Just ask.

For me, you asking about my cancer, the effects it had on me, might still have on me and what it will look like in 10 years is therapeutic.  It helps me focus on the blessings I have in life; the thankfulness of seeing each day on what is borrowed time.  Ask about the scars of self imposed failure during the battles of cancer.  Ask.

I pray we learn to ask.  It shows others we care.  It brings an inexplicable healing to you and I.  We'll start building each other up.  It will allow us to have personal exchanges that our phones aren't letting us have anymore.  It will take away the Instagram likes and replace them with high fives/fist bumps/hugs/smiles.  It could change your world.

Ask.  It's not stupid.  Just ask.