Member Column-A Shared Wonderful Life
by Jim Greer
LW contributor
My annual holiday streaming binge always includes Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.” The central character, George Bailey, has the unique opportunity to experience what the world would be like had he never been born. Perhaps the most significant discovery is how intricately his life was interwoven with the lives of the townspeople of Bedford Falls. Until Clarence the Angel’s intervention, George couldn’t fathom the impact his life of struggle, sacrifice and disappointment had on others’ lives.
In his last conversation with his father, George expresses his frustration, stating “it’s this business of nickels and dimes, and spending all your life figuring out how to save three cents on a length of pipe. I’ve been hoarding pennies like a miser here. I just feel like if I didn’t get away, I’d bust. I want to do something big and something important.”
Our lives are not much different than George Bailey’s. We struggle to see the purpose in life’s challenges, such as declining physical agility, decreasing mental acuity and loneliness. Through the struggle, if we are observant, we will receive guidance from guardian angels, seen and unseen, who intervene to help us discover how wonderful our lives really are. As George Bailey did, we learn that the value of one’s life is measured in the positive impact it has on others, not in the pennies, nickels and dimes we save.
Each of us are travelers on our own life journey. Our routes cross, and we meet en route, or in depots, stations, airports. If we’re wise, we make friends with our fellow travelers, offer travel tips and share life stories. As each departs for the next destination, we bid them farewell, as happy as they are for their next adventure.
The ancient Ionian Greek philosopher Pythagoras wisely stated, “Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.” We all travel rugged roads to what we hope are happier lives, often in the company of neighbors and friends. Some may experience significant challenges, setbacks or barriers on their journeys. Thankfully, the relationships we have built with our fellow travelers provide the solace we need to find meaning in the struggle.
In centuries past, pages of books were referred to as leaves, and turning over a new leaf meant turning to a blank page. As we venture into a new year, we turn over a new leaf, writing on that page our plans for the coming year’s journeys, and record treasured memories. But it is the friendship of our fellow travelers that gives meaning to our challenging adventures. George Bailey learned that his compassion for his neighbors and friends created a permanent, unbreakable connection. As Nelson Mandela put it, “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other —not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”
