How to hang on....and not loose your mind

I have been talking with a co-worker that is going through a very hard time in life, not like my situation but a ruff, devastating situation that is breaking her heart. She asked me a question that I have been asked so many times in the last few months that I think it is prudent to maybe share. "How have you stayed so strong and not fallen apart and into a million pieces?"

At first the question takes me back a little because I do not think of myself any different than anyone else, but I guess my outlook is different. The answer or my answer is being strong is a choice... You can chose to wake up this morning and be strong or you can chose to let yourself sit in a puddle of your tears.... I try very hard to look at what I am dealt in life as a series of choices that have to be handled everyday and I chose to let the bad things go... I chose not to let the bad things have control over what life might bring me today, why spoil the cake in the afternoon with the vinegar from this morning....

Imagine the situation like walking through a cobweb, you know how it gets stuck to your face and hands and you have that, Ewwww... look on your face, you peel it off and flick it off your hand into the wind... Deal with it AND LET IT GO.... You could hold on to it, contemplate the distaste of the yucky feeling, let it ruin your day or you can let it go, keep walking and see what is around the next corner.... (OK unless there was a Gosh Darn HUGE Spider on the dang thing, that might make me dance a little, OK ! A LOT)

Everyday, I chose to keep walking... and on my recent walks, I have found things that make life wonderful and the way I have handled myself gives others around me hope. We should never let the past have control over the future, ever.... It limits our possibilities not just in life but it limits who we become... You know the bitter-cranky-rotten people you run into everyday, they have let something in the past turn them into who they are today, miserable...

Now, I am not perfect and I did last week have a day in the puddle... I had surgery on my hand, was in a lot of pain and found myself feeling really low and sorry for myself and someone so unselfishly came to my rescue, driving hours and made me feel like the most important person in the world to them, Thank you , sweetheart you are just wonderful, love ya to the moon and back... Ok maybe a lot farther than the moon....