First Steps

The screen door crashed behind her as she stumbled into the beach house before collapsing on the kitchen floor. Sand and blood mixed together on her foot and for the briefest of moments, I simply stared until her voice shook me out of my trance. “I’ve been stung by a catfish,” she cried. “It hurts! It hurts!” Another friend and I leapt into action cleaning the blood, the mess, and the wounded. The three of us seamlessly played our parts without rehearsal. One found the first aid kit, Kleenex, tweezers, aspirin and other resources. The fallen friend screamed “Google” when I hesitated on an appropriate course of action. I played nurse and peered into her punctured scrape using a needle to find and extract the venomous barb. Some 36 hours later, she found herself surrounded by even more people in an emergency room and on the receiving end of an x-ray, tetanus shot and antibiotics.

That vacation day is not so unlike other days. Life explodes through a door and lands at our feet. We may freeze, run from the pain, or stand to deal with that which confronts us. When Life slaps us in the face, we can turn the cheek or slap back. When Life disappoints, we can curl in a fetal position or find our backbone and move forward.

I’ve been down and stayed down before. I’ve also slowly straightened wobbly legs and felt trembling knees. I’ve been steadied by family and friends. However, the journey ultimately begins in each one of us. My friend could have chosen to remain on the beach feeling the salt water wash her wound until dizzied with pain; she collapsed under the hot sun. She could have chosen to be helpless and simply lay on the sand until someone saw her. And yet, she chose to struggle towards the house; to reach out to waiting friends; to find safety and relief.

Life waits behind every door whether we open it or not. We simply have to get up, take a step and trust that others are there along the way to help when we need it most.