Endure is a word that speaks of staying with a thing even when it proves difficult. It’s a tough word. A stick with it word. A word that doesn’t give up easily. Endure says that the effort is worthwhile.
Recently, I’ve begun bathing my cat twice a day. He is incontinent and unable to move to the litter box or keep himself off the ground when he is outside. He still eats and purrs and tries to groom himself as best he can. He is enduring his paralysis without complaint. I am enduring this but not as graciously as he.
Within the space of two weeks, my cat has gone from completely mobile to immobile and incontinent. My days have changed. Sometimes my endurance is angry; sometimes it is weepy. But I bathe the cat, change his bedding, wash and dry the towels, bring him food and water, and make him as comfortable as possible.
The job is smelly and unpleasant. But I endure the process because it seems worthwhile. My cat has given me many years of pleasure, so I stay with the present unpleasantries. I want to be the kind of person who can endure this present sadness and be transformed by the process of endurance.
Here is my reflective question for the day: “How have you been transformed by endurance?”
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