Happy Monday,
How is everyone doing this amazing Monday afternoon? It’s a bit overcast and cloudy today, but the cool breeze is my kind of day. Later today I have to go for an eye exam, then once I’m home, it’ll be time to put on the cozy cuddle duds and enjoy a nice warm fire. I love the cool nights. My weekend was a busy one. John and I went to a Chinese New Year party at our friend’s home and OMGoodness, what an amazing party. My friend always has the nicest gatherings and the group of people that are invited are amazing. I feel especially grateful to have been invited and included. Sunday was Grant’s 16th birthday, so we headed to Julian to celebrate with family at the cabin, then back to the lake for me, as I have things to get done this week. How was your weekend? Do anything fun and exciting? Shoot me a text or leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.
The last couple of weeks have been tiring to say the very least. In fact, I was so mentally done that John was sweet enough to send me some amazing YouTube videos to watch. One of the videos was, 5 ways to recover from dealing with energy vampires, another was, 15 tips for dealing with the energy-sucking people in your life and finally, my favorite, These Wayne Dyer Quotes are life changing. You see, I spent two full weeks with a family member who I love dearly, however, they are a life draining vampire and really, I don’t or can’t blame him for the way he is, he’s just in a dark place right now and it hurts my heart to see him suffering, and there’s nothing I can do to help him. I wish he could find some happiness in the depths of his dark world.
With being mentally drained, I will say, the gathering John and I went to was much needed. We laughed, and we enjoyed hearing other people’s experiences, not only with their lake life, but in their overall lives. There is one woman in particular that just melted my heart. She has a form of leukemia I believe she said, and she has this outlook on life that blows my mind. She is one person that I want to be more like. She lives each moment with nothing but positivity. Oh, she talked a little about being sick, but her cancer doesn’t define her, she is a fighter, and she has so much passion for life that, well, all I could say is, if you heard her laughter, you just might find yourself saying a little thank you prayer that you got to hear the voice of an angel within your midst.
There were a couple of other ladies that have had their share of battles too, battles that could have very easily taken their lives, yet they fought and the strength they have to this day is awe inspiring. They gave me a whole new level of appreciation for life, for each day that I wake up. I’ve been blessed to never have had to deal with a major illness, though sometimes I feel like my migraines are enough to take me down, but then, the Universe puts women in my life, even if it’s for just a brief moment and they show me just how precious life is and how you can’t take this life for granted. I am eternally grateful for having the opportunity to have met them and I hope my journey in life continues to have them as part of it. I know they have many more lessons I can learn from them.
One thing I learned was, you don’t know the inner struggles of someone and one thing I’ve really come to appreciate lately is, nobody should have to battle alone, that is, if they’re willing to let you into their world. My aunt is one of those persons that chose to distant herself from pretty much the entire family and now that she’s sick, she’s come to the realization that family matters. Last week when I went to visit her, she was telling me how she intends to live out her life. She cried and told me that she was pretty nasty to so many people and now that she can think more clearly, she doesn’t want to go back to the way she was. She wants to take her second chance at life and live it being kind to others. I teared up when she said, “I might not ever leave this place, and that’s okay, I will be happy each day for the gift of life, and I will be kind to others.”
My other family member who was with me for a couple of weeks, well, he has a heart of gold, but he can’t see past the pain he suffers, so life has no real meaning to him. I know what that feels like. Darkness. The feeling that you’ll never see light again, the feeling of never knowing what being okay is like and that’s a dark hole to find yourself in. When I listened to the Wayne Dyer video, he said something really simple, yet it was a WOW moment for me. He said, we are all delt a hand of cards, some of us are delt not the best hand, but it’s all in how you decide to look at life that makes the hand a good one, or a bad one. Not his exact words, but that was the basic thought. Anyway, Wayne Dyer went onto say, we can sit and blame others for our problems, we can feel sorry for ourselves, or we can learn something and DO something positive to help ourselves. It’s all in the way we decide to live our life.
I can sit here and blame my mother for things that happened to me. I can blame my father for being absent most of my life, I can blame my ex for not being a good husband and hiding our assets, or I can look at life and be grateful for having life, I can show gratitude for the experiences I’ve had, and I can be proud of who I’m becoming because of those hard times. While I would never wish child abuse on anyone, I can say this, I learned from it. I learned to be more compassionate, and I learned to forgive, well, maybe I’m learning to forgive. That one is still a work in progress. I’ve learned to appreciate the value of a dollar, thanks to my ex. I’ve learned that with faith, I’ve never gone without. Sure, I might not have the fancy car, or the big house, but I have love in my life. I have wonderful friends. I have sons that have grown into men that make my heart beam with pride. I try every day to think about the things I do have, rather than what I don’t have. It’s a struggle, but then I show up for chair volleyball and get to enjoy the laughter of some pretty amazing people.
“Be grateful that life offers second chances, fresh starts and unlimited opportunities to change course. If you trust the Universe like you claim you do, why do you doubt your manifestations? Stop being impatient by questioning the timing of what you deserve. Your path is already cleared. Your love is already aligned. Your abundance is already accumulated. your success is already set. Surrender to the process. It is done.”-affirmationmagic.com .
I read this and thought, hmmm, that’s a real kicker in my butt. I have been given a second chance and the opportunities are there to change my course if I want. I know there’s been times that I’ve felt stuck and like there’s no way out, but here I am, still standing and still waking up in the morning and still given a fresh start and outlook each and every day. I’m given the gift of reminders from others whose lives are altered by a battle against a disease that takes who it wants when it wants, yet they still laugh, they still live, and they show so much appreciation for life in how they handle their battles.
When I escaped the cult life, I didn’t know how to be around people. I didn’t know how to act, and trust has been a huge obstacle for me. I was taught my entire life that if you weren’t a part of the religion, you would die by God’s own wrath. I was taught that people outside the organization were evil and lived a debauchery lifestyle, I’m so thankful to have a second chance at living and seeing the good in the world around me. The world is an amazing place with kind, loving and inspirational people and I get to be a part of it. Sure, there’s tons of bad too, but, that bad helps give appreciation for the good. John says it’s life’s way of teaching us lessons. Guess we need to figure out the best way to handle those lessons and learn from them.
As I finish up the blog for today, I’m sitting in bed looking out my slider at the lake. I see kids running around at the park and laughing and yelling with joy. People are living their lives today and I hope that everyone is able to find happiness in today, because we never know what tomorrow will bring. I hope it brings a second chance at life, and if it doesn’t, well, that’s okay too. I’m happy, I’m doing the work at embracing each day, even the ones that have me on a rollercoaster.
Life gives us second chances and I know for me; I fail to realize that from time to time. The times I fall or fail, are the Universe’s way of redirecting me to the path I was meant to be on and other times, it’s simply helping me learn a lesson in an effort to teach me to be a better person. There are times when the life gets sucked right out of me and on those occasions, I might just need to reach out and ask for a little help in finding the positive. Oh, and please don’t forget, if you find yourself slipping a little bit, I’m here for you, just reach out. Life can be hard, but with love and support, we might just be able to come out in the next life for the better.
I need to wrap things up for now. I do hope your day was as amazing and beautiful as you. Please don’t forget, until next time, Love Life++
Love Life with Dawna 