Saturday, January 29, 2011

"Life is Stranger and More Beautiful" than you ever imagined

As I'm relaxing on my "luxurious" couch this morning while my almost 3-year old plays happily in the living room, classical music softly playing in the background, a candle burning, heat blasting, kitty snoozing and our new fish swimming lazily around his tank, I got to thinking... Wow, this beautiful, sweet natured child, who was unwanted/or unable to be kept by his Nepali mom, so much that she had to risk her life and abandon him in the night, leave him behind and run away, scared, sad, disgraced.... and her nightmare, her darkest moment, unbeknownst to her, becomes my brightest moment, my dream.  Because of her bravery and hardship, her agony and suffering, he is alive and loved.  He is thriving, smiling, laughing, playing, learning, growing, talking, and making not only me, but SO MANY people smile, and marvel at the strange and mysterious workings of the world, and begin to understand the beauty of adoption.

A Leavenworth tradition, Empty Bowls. Paint a bowl, and then it gets fired,  When you pick it up, you can fill it with soup donated by the community restaurants.  Big social event and all proceeds go to local charity. Pukar paints his first bowl!
The days have been flying by with social outings and quiet at home time.  We have skied a lot, almost every day, taken many hot-tubs, shared many meals and lots of peaceful nights.  He is very social and seems to love people and other children.  I am transitioning him to his pre-school and he loves it there too.  He will also stay with a friend and her little boy one day a week, while I work three.  I will most likely be selling my condo to get out of debt, and plan to put some money in his college fund and rent while I recover from all the financial obligations of adoption and 4 months without income while living abroad and fighting the US Gov't to prove he was an orphan.  I'm OK with all that.  It will all work out...it always has worked out for me, one way or another.  I'm at peace.

The main thing is we are happy.  We are truly happy.  

The full quote used in the title of this post: 
Looking at the people, listening to the breathing, heaving, laughing, struggling music of the slum, all around me, I remembered one of Khaderbhai's favourite phrases. Every human heartbeat, he'd said many times, is a universe of possibilities. And it seemed to me that I finally understood exactly what he'd meant. He'd been trying to tell me that every human will has the power to transform its fate. I'd always thought that fate was something unchangeable: fixed for every one of us at birth, and as constant as the circuit of the stars. But I suddenly realised that life is stranger and more beautiful than that. The truth is that, no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter how good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love.
Shantaram: Gregory David Roberts 

 ...a single thought or a single act of love...  I have always LOVED this quote, but never has it been more powerful or more poignant.  Think about it.

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