Standing

A FaceBook/Flagstaff acquaintance is going through a life-shattering, soul-crushing, grief-stricken experience.  His son died and he is right in the middle of getting all the memorial pieces pulled together, the family notifications, the continuing with "everyday life" that carries on even though we would prefer time to stop.

Throughout, he's posted his reflections, his mourning process, his shock.  The one that captured my attention the most is titled "Standing for Sam".  It is a raw admission of flaw and a strong declaration of future resolve: to be there in the capacity that his son will no longer be able to; to stand in his son's stead when it was something that his son would have stood up for; to fill the shoes of someone who wanted to make a difference in the world.

And it got me thinking.  

Who has affected me so much that I am willing to take up the mantle of making a difference in their name?  

And that got me thinking further.

We all have someone that has left us before we were quite ready for them to leave.  Death, distance, time, twists & turns of life.  For many and various reasons, we all have someone who made a huge impact on our lives but is no longer physically with us.  

So, what if we all stood for those people?  What if we actively said, "I will make a difference.  I will step in where that person is no longer able to.  I will put aside my own ego and make the world a better place."  What if we consciously took a moment to stop being in our own jerky heads, wanting everything to be how we think it should be...

and stopped...  

Just hit pause for 2-seconds and truly see--really hear--others around us.  

Then, take it a step further.  

What would happen if we all started seeing others as ourselves?  Instead of shying away from "undesirables", really seeing them.  Instead of shielding ourselves in our fortresses of solitude, letting others see us--our foibles, our darkness, our shortcomings, our incompleteness.  

What would happen when we truly saw others as ourselves and ourselves as others?  

We would gladly step up to stand for another. 

We would be able to humbly stand--with compassion, with love, without judgement--for ourselves.  

Shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, heart-by-heart.

And so, my own resolve, my own declaration of standing:
I stand for my fathers, my mother, my sisters, my brothers
I stand for my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins
I stand for love
I stand for peace
I stand for my ancestors
I stand for my descendants
I stand for others who want a better world for those that come after
I stand for those who are no longer able to stand
I stand for my friends
I stand for connecting to those around me
I stand for hugging twice
I stand for crying
I stand for laughing
I stand for compassion
I stand for those who have touched my life
I stand for those who've been impacted by me
I stand for you
I stand for me
I stand

Who will you stand for?