When Does It Get Better?

“When does it get better?” she asked.

“When does it get better? I’ve endured all the noise and sustained myself in the chaos. I’ve tolerated the news and tried to maintain my balance. I’ve reached out to others with kindness. I’ve more or less kept my cool… but really—when does it get better?”

I listened to the kind-faced young woman with the warm, expressive eyes and felt a wave of empathy. She was a stranger in a social media post, but what she said felt very real to me.

The silent voice inside me said, “Been there. Done that.”

I’m guessing you may have thought the same.

We know what it’s like to give life our best effort while the noise grows louder and the challenges seem to keep coming. It’s natural to ask the question:

When does it get better?

In my 87 years, I’ve asked myself that question many times.

What I’ve discovered is something both simple and surprising:

It doesn’t get better.
I get better.

At some point I realized that when I said “it,” I was really talking about me.

The question wasn’t actually “When does it get better?”
The real question was:

“When do I get better?”

And here’s the deeper truth.

You are better.

Who you are is magnificent beyond measure. You have been given the extraordinary experience of being alive in a human body—able to feel both the agony and the ecstasy of being alive.

Astronomers tell us that in this immense universe of billions of stars and planets, Earth may be a rare island of meaning.

And the odds against you being born were astronomical.

The good news is—you won the lottery. Congratulations.

The bad news is—you won the lottery. Congratulations.

Forgive my wacky humor. I think that way because I’m getting closer to the end of my time here, and I’ve learned to cherish every moment.

Here’s a small discovery that helps me:

When we say “it,” we place the power outside ourselves.

When we say “I,” we reclaim our power.

“What power?” you might ask.

The power to live fully in the present moment.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come.

All we truly have is now.

You are alive.
Take a breath.
Enjoy it.

Notice something interesting:

“It” just changed.

When your inner world changes, your outer world begins to change too.

A jokester once said,
“Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.”

I say this:

Life is a game, and the only way to lose is not to play.

Bright Moments,
Joseph