Hardknocks: When Hard, knocks.

I like watching cooking shows. Hardly a surprise. I love me some food. Think it stems from watching mom, puttering away in the kitchen preparing this meal or that. We had many a laugh and conversation in the midst of chicken frying, bacon sizzling, cake rising deliciously in the oven.

Ah!…..*hugs self*….miss you, mom. Hey, Britta’s mum!….*waves*….

Anywho, I love those shows. I marvel at how NEAT the kitchens are! How in fresh hell, do they ALWAYS manage to keep the blasted kitchen so clean??!!…*gasp*. My kitchen, during, and especially right after, a chili making session ALWAYS looks like a crime scene. A catastrophe. A what in the fresh hell is this type of situation. Yes, I try and do as mom always taught us to clean up while cooking so as not to have to do so after.

Don’t ask me how the world chili ends up every which a way. And, how on earth, do they cut/slice things so nicely!…*gasp*. ALL my slicings end up looking like a Jackson Pollock fiasco.

Life, right now, looks and feels like a Jackson Pollock fiasco. One minute, relatively smooth sailing. Next minute…POW!! Life landed a haymaker, right to the kisser. Out like a light, I went. Came to, wondering what in the fresh hell, looked around and saw my world turned on it’s head, again.

AGAIN!

Fresh hell!

Such a hard hit. Ow….*pout*.

I found myself, find myself, still, sitting with a life-size and life-full, of hard. Trying, to figure out, what to do with this hard. Trying, to figure out, what to do with ME, during this hard. Don’t know what to DO, with this much hard, so much hard, so quickly, with NO warning.

I think, I could have prepared, for this amount of hard. If, o, if, I had only had some warning.

Circumstances, situations, the world, folk often don’t/won’t/can’t give us fair warning when hardknocks. Or, rather when hard, knocks. It just shows up and shows out.

Hard.

Hard!

HARD!!

Blow after blow after blow after blow after blow after blow after blow after blow after blow after blow…

Hey! You see, when Hard, knocks, she won’t stop knocking, upside your head, until you wake up, acknowledge her, then start throwing some haymakers, of your own.

When Hard, knocks, she comes as a friend. She, Hard, comes bearing gifts. IF, and ONLY if, we receive her with:

Grace.

Tenacity.

Humor.

Resourcefulness.

Gratitude.

Gratitude!? Humor?! What the world is so funny, about Hard? HOW the world can one be grateful for Hard????!!!!

Surprisingly, I have found, in going through the hard, WITH Hard, found I COULD make it, I COULD take it. I found, well, me. A resilient, me. A humbled, me. A tough, me. A faithful, me. A joyful still, me. A grateful, me.

Grateful? Huh?! Where did THAT come from, I wondered. In all the fighting with, fighting through, embracing, facing, tasting, receiving the hard, and Hard, I was, have been, still am, scraping away at decades, layers, boundaries, barriers, carriers and all manner of things, feelings, stereotypes, labels, mindsets, regrets, upsets, and nonsense that had been standing in my way.\

Yes, it was hard. Yes, SHE was Hard. It was her job, though, to BE. Hard. For, me. FOR me. Hard, so I could begin to see, just a little, that I COULD do the hard thing, go through the hard thing, say the hard thing, BE the hard thing. I COULD, do all of those things, yet NOT turn hard/bitter/angry.

I COULD, and did, acknowledge that this was hard, that life could and was hard. I could do that and STILL have hope, joy, peace, love and ALL manner of life’s good things. Who knew all that was in there? Why, God and Life, of course. Why, They sometimes, quite often, all the time it feels like, go through the hard, WITH Hard. Only, way to find and cherish the hidden nuggets, diamonds and gems nestled deep inside/with the hard, with Hard.

Sadly, most never learn these lessons. Most, never find the nuggets. They are too busy arguing with, refusing to go with, being angry with the hard, with Hard.

Hardknocks ARE hard. They were never meant to be easy. They were never meant to be comfortable. They were meant to be hard. In order to:

Change, us.

Challenge, us.

Shape, us.

Remake, us.

Sustain, us.

Strengthen, us.

Stablish, us.

So, we, in turn, can help God and Life to shape, remake, sustain, strengthen and stablish others.

When Hard, knocks, let her in. She will change your life. She changed mine.

Thank you, Hard, for being a friend.

doing the hard with Hard,

Cassandra

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