How do we do it?

Years ago, when I had two baby boys – one strapped to the front of me and one strapped on my back – other parents, usually moms, said, "How do you do it?" or "I don't know how you can do it!"

This was always funny to me, because the only way I "did it" was by having no other choice.

A bizarre set of circumstances (in the form of a surprise pregnancy) left me with two baby boys very close in age. Even though it was exhausting and challenging (parents of multiples, you hear me!) there was no choice but to soldier through the days and do what needed to be done to keep them alive.

Oh, and the coffee helped a lot. And the wine, the after-bedtime wine helped, too. To this day I believe there's a St. (Two Buck) Chuck.

I had a darker "I don't know how you can do it" experience years later, when my divorce and my father's funeral fell on the same day. I woke up that morning and thought, "I can't do this," but then, guess what? I did it. And even though it was a terrible day, it makes a great life story – one that is mine forever.

Despite my experiences with challenging situations, I still hear about things like a child passing away or people living with extreme physical limitations and / or illnesses and I find myself saying, "how can they do it?"

And then I remember how they do it. They just do it. (No Nike reference intended here).

It always goes back to what we often hear about the resilience of the human spirit. This is said so often because it is true. We humans are made of such soft meat, but when push comes to shove, we're a planet of tough cookies.