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The young woman was totally devastated. The man she loved with all
her heart had turned cold. She could see the signs of the end of
what she thought was the ideal relationship. Still, it is one thing
to know and something else to accept reality. For weeks she could
see him slipping away from her slowly but surely. Those were
nightmarish days full of intense inner pain. Her world was
collapsing all around her and there seemed to be nothing she could
do about it. Try as she might, nothing was working until one day she
finally had to accept the inevitable: he was lost.
She recalls those times as her longest days.
Weeks that were like one unending day of pain and shattered dreams.
She had vowed never to get involved with another man. So great was
her heartache that she feared having a similar experience all over
again.
Her fear of men did not, however, last. As the
memories of her traumatic experience faded and she was able to find
new meaning in her life, sunny days were upon her once again. All of
us will sooner or later have our longest day. It will be a time of
intense pain (physical, emotional, psychological) that does not seem
to end. It will be a time when we might begin to think that we can
no longer bear the pain, the hurt. It will be a period of life when
darkness overshadows all the good things that happen to us. It will
be a time when we hurt so badly that we begin to lose hope that we
can survive.
John McCain who is running for president of the
United States had his longest day during the Vietnam War. Shot down
over enemy territory with both arms and a broken leg, he suffered
every kind of indignity, beatings and deprivation in prison for five
years. During that time, he attempted suicide twice. So miserable
was his situation. More than five years of an unending hell of
continuous pain and all manner of suffering. Despair was his
constant companion.
Even the longest day, however, will come to an
end and at war’s end McCain was set free. His body was broken but
his spirit had found strength he never thought he had.
Somehow our longest days (we will have more than
one) serve to strengthen us if we do not allow them to break us. We
have more courage, more inner power to stand up and walk through the
longest day then we can know. Only when the time comes and we are
severely tested will that courage come forth from the depths of our
soul. Only then will we surprise ourselves with the power to resist
that which we thought we could never endure.
Yes, even the longest day must come to an end,
but the lessons learned will remain with us till our dying day.
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If you have problems about drugs, alcohol and
behavior/attitude call my office at 8206107 or 8251771 or e-mail me
at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati
City.
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