Just One Minute Longer

Sometimes people need us. They need us to be there for them and believe, to hold on and to hope, to enlighten and to encourage.

No one can ever make it alone. And in the times when we're down, we need people. Sometimes to rescue us, as in a newborn baby fighting for his life or a student in a hospital (I know you'll make it Kaleb and Patrice).

As we get older we don't need to be rescued. And when we are looking for someone outside ourselves to do that it's the beginning of a very unhealthy relationship (the victim - rescuer- persecutor cycle). Been there, done that, and only in the beginning is it "romantic". After that it's drama.

Real romance is in resuscitation. Relationships are not difficult among healthy people. It's easy to be a hero to your husband by telling him you believe in him when you'd rather criticize him. It's easy to be hero to your wife by listening to her and what she's really saying when you'd rather just fix the problem and criticize her for how she's saying it.

Real love shows up when you're not feeling very loving, when you're tired and grumpy, when you're too busy to take the time. It's not about not having problems, but in handling them together in a loving spirit.

Tonight my daughter needed me. Sparky and Cotton Cake were missing. And she couldn't possibly go to bed without them. This was a big deal to her, so it was a big deal to me.

We searched high and low, over and under, and over and over again. But without luck. I told her I needed to get back to my research. I had dozens of journals I needed to look through before I went to bed.

I didn't want to keep looking, but she did. I wanted to look for the creator of these web-kinz dolls my children are crazy over and give him a piece of my mind. She just wanted to find her "children" and have "grandpa" tuck them in beside her and say prayers.

So we kept looking, together, believing, hoping, holding on, encouraging each other, and "seeking enlightenment" as to where in the world they could be, until we found them.

Being a hero isn't about saving the world. It's about being there when we'd rather not be.

Continuing to believe when it'd be easier to doubt.

Holding on when we'd rather let go.

Hoping when all seems hopeless.

Encouraging when we feel discouraged.

And finding enlightenment out of darkness and confusion.


I read a Danish proverb in college that said, "A hero is someone who holds on one minute longer."

I've held on to that thought since then, and keep holding on to the idea that the world is full of heroes, if we could just hold on to our dreams, and the dreams and needs of others, just one minute longer.

I told Kaleb's mom tonight how inspired I am by her and her husband, and little Kaleb, who have all been holding on and hoping just one minute longer, just one minute longer.....

You can have all the muscles you want on the outside. It's our inner muscles that measure our true strength, and give us the ability to hold on, just one minute longer, until we find what we're looking for.