There are some weeks that go by quickly and are uneventful. The past week was not one of them for me. A good friend is in the hospital. A very precious neighbor lady died. Another good friend moved. Another friend from far away informed me of family troubles involving meth. One of my family members is ill and going through medical tests. Add the flu for me and (can you believe it) my dog and my week was unbelievably filled with bad news. It seemed wherever I turned the news seemed to be getting worse.

As I was searching my mind and heart for answers to all of these difficult situations the same thought kept popping up. This is life. This is life. I don’t know why we expect that our lives would be without problems but we do. We are always surprised when we have a glitch in our journey, and there seem to be many glitches along the road.

I scanned through the list of all of the people that I know and there is not one person that I know that is not struggling with some sort of problem. Little children struggle with being afraid of the dark or getting lost. My little granddaughter is struggling right now with losing a tooth so the tooth fairy can visit.

Teenagers struggle with grades and peer pressure and sometimes mom and dad and attitude. Young adults struggle with raising a family and putting food on the table, worrying about their children and their relationship.

As you get older you struggle with losing your friends, health issues and being alone.

Had I been wiser earlier I would have accepted that life is always going to take a jog and throw us for a loop. Didn’t we all like to ride the Loop de Loop at the fair? Then why are we having such a problem with the Loop de Loop of life? There is always some issue that pops up and smacks us in the face. For some reason we are always surprised as if we didn’t anticipate that there would be another curve. We are not alone. Every one’s journey has a loop in it. The loops are there carrying us along on its curvy path.

We need to hang on tight and wait for the loop to straighten so we can enjoy the thrill of racing on the straight and narrow for awhile. Didn’t we always like the thrill and speed of the straight and narrow? The straight and narrow never lasted long enough. Somehow that seems to mimic life too.

It would seem that life would be so easy if we didn’t care about anyone but ourselves. We wouldn’t feel the hurt and the pain that we feel when someone we care about is having a rough time with life. But we would be alone in the loop and alone on the straight and narrow. Wasn’t it always fun to grab on to someone while riding the Loop de Loop and hold on for life and then we enjoyed sharing the sheer rush of joy when we were on the straight and narrow. You can’t have one without the other. Don’t we sometimes get bored with a straight road?

I struggled to write a column this week because I like to be upbeat. I just wasn’t feeling it. When you are down there is always someone else that is up and I found that person. She was just a phone call away in Nebraska. She was on the straight and narrow while I was in the loop. She brought me out of the loop with stories and a reminder of the faith we share in a higher power. If you share your Loop de Loop you can find someone to hold on to and help you with the ride.

We can’t avoid life. The events that happened didn’t happen to me except for the flu. Because we feel helpless and we cannot do anything to change the events in the lives of our family and friends it is easier to make it about us. I can’t do anything but pray for my friend in the hospital. It doesn’t seem enough. I didn’t visit my neighbor. It’s too late. I can’t predict the outcome of medical tests. Sambo wouldn’t let me hold a bucket under his head when his tummy was upset. I miss my friend that moved. Because I feel helpless it becomes about me.

That is life. Our glitches and loops affect other people. Life is about caring for our family, for our neighbors. Life is about helping someone who is in the loop while you are on the straight and narrow.

Life is about letting someone help you while you are in the loop. So get ready for the roller coaster ride, hang on tight and grab a lifeline when you need it. If you do that, at the end of your story you will be able to say you really lived.

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”

— Elbert Hubbard

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.