Why Not You, Brothuh? 24

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Why Not You, Brothuh?

This was a line said by a character played by Richard Pryor.  I believe it was in the movie Uptown Saturday Night that starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier.  His character rips off another character who asks him, “Why me?”  Richard retorts, “Why not you, brothuh?”

A lot of people around me, friends and family, have had a number of truly bad, life-altering things happen to them.  Many of them are asking themselves, “why me?”  Some have had their faith shaken to the core.  All of them are having to regroup, renew.

When the joys are happening in our lives, we rarely say, “This is too much.  Why am I having all of these blessings?”

Into each life some rain much fall.
No one gets through life unscathed in some way.
Bad things happen to good people.

And all that jazz…the clichés are true.  Not comforting necessarily but true.

Behind every cloud is a silver lining.
The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Well, “I’m so glad that trouble don’t last always” to quote a spiritual.

I’m doing Lamaze breathing (from back in the day when I was delivering my children), saying, “Lord, have mercy” throughout the day, and trying not to jump every time the phone rings because I’ve been getting a lot of bad news recently via the phone

Hold on to your love, embrace the good things that keep on going despite the bad, find reasons to laugh, and go after as many experiences and adventures as you can manage right now, ‘cause you just don’t know when your juice will run out, your friends and family will falter, and the troubles show up in your sphere.

About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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