It’s so nice to live in a time where there is a fix for almost everything. Right? Your Eyelashes looking a little short. You can opt for a sky high mascara, false eyelashes or extensions. Your choice. Your hair line is looking a little thin? No problem, you can take supplements, get hair extensions or get a hair transplant. You have some issues with your heart, there are the latest medical procedures from statins, stints, pacemakers or open heart surgery. You want to monitor your health on your own, there’s a Fitbit, the Apple Watch, Myzone or the Oura ring, to names just a few. Do you want to turn back the clock and look younger? Well, no problem with everything from supplements, to workouts to medical procedures to cosmetic to be the youngest you, to ‘live your best life.’
That’s what’s it’s all about right? Living Our Best Life or being the best version of ourself. Really there is nothing wrong with striving for excellence in our lives, trying to make ourselves better, smarter or stronger. With so much available to us to aid us in our quest to be our best, live our best sometimes it’s hard to accept when life doesn’t go our way or an obstacle is thrown in our path.
Thirty five years ago, four week’s after I went back to work, after our daughter was born, a very valuable lesson was learned. We were managing life as a young family with a new baby. Being a working outside of the home mom was manageable, with both parents taking the baby to grandparents for childcare. It seemed as if we had everything, a good marriage, a new healthy baby, jobs we both had always wanted, our future seemed so promising. On the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, the day got off to a rough start. I didn’t feel great, but thinking I was just a little tired, I dropped off Sasha at my Mom’s and went on to my third grade classroom at Doyle Ryder Elementary School in Flint. As the day went on, I felt worse and worse. At lunch time, I went into the office to tell the secretary that I needed to go home, she called a sub and I agreed to stay until the sub arrived. I called my Mom, she and Sasha came to pick me up, as I felt I couldn’t drive. My Mom drove me to St. Joseph Hospital fairly close to school, I collapsed walking into the emergency room. I woke up to my Mom holding my infant daughter as they hooked me up to IVs. Soon my husband arrived and I remember nodding off thinking this may be it and I felt so horrible, there was nothing left in me to fight whatever it was I was fighting.
The lesson learned that day, well maybe not THAT day, but from that day was that, you can plod along in life, striving to be your best, working towards your goals and life can stop you in your tracks. You may have had similar lessons in your life too. Since then we’ve had other hiccups come up, that’s just part of living a life on this earth. You can do everything on your end to prepare, make good choices and the unexpected can come out of no where. It’s an awful feeling…
When life deals you a set back, you have some options, depending on the circumstances and your resources. You can fight back with what you have when it’s something worth fighting for, and sometimes, that is the best option. You can also size up the set back and decide that you need to learn from the situation and chalk it up as a loss. You are very fortunate if you have the wisdom to know which to do and when…
Wishing you a Great Day ❤️
