THE POWER WE HAVE

 

YOU have the power to say, "This is NOT how my story will end."

And so, my story goes on... after a four-year absence. 

There's SO MUCH to say, SO MUCH to catch you up on, SO MUCH that's happened!

At this moment, I have no idea how or if I will fill in all the gaps left with me not blogging at all these last four years. It's A LOT! Honestly, it's so much that it almost broke me! And I think it's come close to breaking some of my kids! Grown kids. They are all adults now, legally speaking. The post-lockdown years sure have been challenging for everyone that I know! 

For now, I'm following the wisdom of the Sea Turtle.

Travel at your own pace.

Most days, my pace is slower than others I know. My body struggles under the weight of multiple chronic health issues that the doctors I am able to go to have given up finding ways to make anything better for me. So I must pace myself accordingly. 

Stay calm under pressure.

THIS is me! All my life I've been the one remaining calm no matter how high the pressure of the situation becomes. Head injuries. Childbirth. Car accidents. Life-Flights. All sorts of minor injuries and ailments that others just can't deal with. 

(Maybe I am a Sea Turtle at heart?)

Trust the flow.

For a sea turtle, trusting the flow of the oceans to carry you along wherever you're going is a key method to traveling about their daily life. For a human, maybe it's like "going with the flow" and being an easy-going person, dealing with whatever comes your way, not getting bent-out-of-shape because it's not going the way you wanted to go. Most of my life, this is exactly what I've done. The few exceptions were absolutely necessary at that time.

Be comfortable in your own shell.

This one, I'm working on! Opinions of others, usually people I considered important to me, mattered enough that I believed so much of the negative and disparaging things they told me. My life was often so busy I never gave any time to changing this. Now that I'm dealing with so many physical limitations, which slow me down and oddly, allow me more time to think about such things, I am questioning those opinions AND limiting my exposure to all those who choose to make me aware of how little they think of me. I'm spending more time with people who accept me for me, not for who they want me to be. Gradually, little changes are coming about that reflect the true me! The person I've always been! A person gaining confidence in her own shell and becoming more comfortable about it!

Enjoy time alone!

TIME ALONE! Just a rare treat in my life! Raising six kids makes any time alone a real treasure. It's been ages since I've really enjoyed any time alone! The kids are grown now, though some with more challenging special needs do still need a lot of me in their lives. More often than at any other point in my life, I am finding more time to be alone in ways that I truly enjoy! THAT is a WONDERFUL THING!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

KEEP MOVING FORWARD! This has always been my direction - forward! The past can creep in and take over sometimes but I fight that and get more focused on moving forward! Today, I'm reviving my writing. I will find that way to write my books! There is too much in me to not share it with others, to not help others with what I know, to encourage and inspire others who may find my books and feel it is exactly what they need at that moment!

MY STORY IS NOT ENDING,

IT IS MOVING FORWARD!