The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars

   Simply put, The Fault In Our Stars is worth seeing.  Well written, well acted and likely doomed to disappear (even though it's available now on DVD), this small film with unknown leads deals with two teenagers fighting a losing battle with cancer, how they deal with it, how others deal with it, and how love, in the midst of it all, can appear out of nowhere.

   At one point in the film, one of the characters feels pretty low at what's happening and at how life is turning out, to which the other replies, "I know you want to be remembered by everyone.  But you've got me, you've got family, you've got the world, and if that's not enough then I'm sorry."

   Perhaps some of us find that solution early in life, that of what really matters.  Perhaps some of us find that answer only when life is nearing an end.  Perhaps some of us leave this world having never found it.  As with finding the meaning of life, the meaning of it all, we each are on our own journey, however long that might be.  And if life were to end in the next few minutes (a fall, drowning, a car accident), would you feel that you've had a good life or would you perish thinking, "there's so much I want to do?"  And if the latter, why haven't you done those things (or started to do those things)?

   I'm reminded of a story in the recent AARP Bulletin where a struggling convenience store clerk had a man come in to have her check his lottery ticket. "I think it's a winner," he said.  When it proved to be good for $100, he asked for 2 fifties and promptly gave one to the clerk and the other to her co-worker and walked out with a smile.  Later in the story, the clerk -now a nurse- saw the now elderly man arrive in her hospital.  She immediately recognized him and ran over to give him a hug, telling him how much that $50 meant at the time, a time when she was having a number of financial difficulties and feeling quite low...and what a difference his gift made to her.

   There is a lot of good happening in the world, despite how it can seem...what's going on in our lives now might be a roller coaster ride that doesn't seem to have an end, it's highs and lows taxing our stamina and perhaps causing our own bodies to falter.  Finances might be collapsing, health issues might be threatening, old age might be just around the corner, parents or friends or we might be faced with a end that's coming sooner than we thought.  Asking my 89 year-old mother if life went by quickly she stammered with exasperation, an audible nod and sigh of acknowledgement.

   Lately, I think the meaning of living might simply be helping...that might mean helping the planet or helping others, as that man with the lottery ticket did.  Totally unexpected, totally selfless.  But maybe it's as simple as helping yourself, using what you have, bringing a smile to someone, being patient even when in a hurry, being compassionate when when the world doesn't seem to be going your way, being loving even when you're feeling alone.  As the line in the movie says, "...you've got me, you've got family, you've got the world, and if that's not enough then I'm sorry."