Not that long ago, I opened the wrong email and got hacked into. My address book totally disappeared. My file system was corrupted and rendered useless. 

All those in my contact list received a message that my wife and I were being held hostage in Spain, and they needed to send off $2,500 to bail us out. There were a few other uglies too, and it took almost a month to recover. Along the way, I got various notices from friends that ran the gamut from laughter to where to send the money. 

About the same time, our son was to receive a master’s degree from a university in a state to the south. Shortly before we drove down for this happy event, his area was struck by a tornado that completely destroyed the town in which his best friends neighbored. Those who lived in this town lost everything they had. Suddenly, in perspective, my computer woes went from tragedy to inconvenience.

There are so many others who have lost it all in fires, floods, storms and injuries. And they, too, are called upon to rise to the occasion and recover from whatever tragedy has occurred. 

This seems to be a part of our human nature, rising to the occasion, whatever it may be for each of us.  

Along the way, we are called on to do more than live in remorse. As I am called on to recover from whatever the event may be, I am reminded that part of the purpose is to invest in those who are also in need. Our family, our community, our profession all seem to be a part of a greater purpose that requires our engagement in and investment beyond the personal pain caused by things like computer hassles and worse.

 Rising to the occasion for ourselves and others seems to be a part of the purpose of the process we all get to go through.

The Doc