Fighting on Multiple Battlefronts

I’m pretty certain that I’m not alone in feeling that I am fighting for what is good, and right, and just on many fronts today. Many of our public battles are serious, like the battle to end systemic racism or the battle over how to provide economic support to the many who are unemployed because of this pandemic. Other battles are based on stupidity but nonetheless require energy to fight, like whether to mandate wearing face masks in public in the face of 171,000 U.S. deaths, whether college football should be played this fall, whether children should return to school for in-person instruction in COVID-19 hotbeds, and whether mail-in voting will be curtailed by defunding the post office. And of course now the ridiculous question as to whether or not Kamala Harris was born in the U.S.?

We are forced to pick our battles. I’m glad to hear that yesterday some Americans in Washington DC showed up to protest at the home of the major Trump supporter Post Master General who is doing the president’s bidding to curtail mail processing, making large scale voting by mail difficult if not completely impossible. Others are lining up to get food to feed their families and struggling to stay in their homes. And sadly, too many are dealing with COVID-19 illness and deaths. My family spent several anxious days this past week waiting on the results of my husband’s and daughter’s COVID-19 tests. Thankfully, both were negative. However, a new health battle in my family has just begun.

My husband had a COVID-19 test because he needs additional testing after coughing up a 1″ by 1/2″ lump of tissue or tumor last week. He has been coughing non-stop (pre-COVID-19) for several months and the doctors have tried to address the issue in numerous ways. But coughing up a lump of tissue changed their tune altogether. We are waiting for the results of the biopsy while holding our breath. And in the process of all the labs, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The constant coughing and resulting lack of sleep and energy have made him less active. Hence, he gained a lot of weight.

I learned from a wise person many years ago that we have to pick our battles. In a world with limitations on our time as well as our physical, mental, and emotional capacity, it is not possible to participate in every battle, no matter how worthy. Unfortunately, in my lifetime I have never seen so many battles to choose from at one time. And sadly, even though many of these battles are manufactured by this president, they are too dangerous to be completely ignored. So, I pray that while I take up arms in the primary battle to regain my husband’s health while protecting my own, that others will fight the good fight on these other important fronts. It is painful to admit that the best I can do right now is to stay informed, cast my vote, write my representatives, and post my weekly blog.

As they say in the Asian dramas I’m so fond of, “Fighting!”