Hard Times Just Aren't So Hard

Now I get to drive to work in the mornings again and I've again picked up listening to a new (new to me) radio show. Mainly music is what I go for, some fun and meaningful tunes and the sunshine on the way to work put a smile on my face and make me think about how wonderful life really is. I get a kick out of smiling at other people on the way to work as they sit in THEIR cars - especially when you get a smile back. I also really love my Starbucks trip and on occassion I love to pay for the car in back of me at the drive-thru with my personal message sent via the barrista, "have a great day and pass it on!" Not really a better way to start the day.

Back to the radio show though; today they were talking about "good news." People were calling in sharing their own personal good news and it was cool. A mom called in to say that her son is coming home from Iraq for Easter; she'd not gotten to see him for any of the other Holidays and this woman was just ecstatic. A wife called in to say her husband was coming home from Afghanistan and they're having a baby. Then a doctor called in to say she'd just found a donor for one of her patients, a 16 year old girl in bad need of a lung transplant. Wow! The next man called in to say he's celebrating his one year anniversary being clean & sober. Yup, I will admit to some tears.

Life really ought to be about these good things. When you've got problems and annoyances, we should spend less time worrying about those things and stressing ourselves out and refocus on the good news. There is always good news to focus on.

A little over a year ago, I was under some serious stress between moving my Grandma out of my house, trying to help take care of my grandmother and transition her to Assisted Living, my dog (aka first baby) passing away from cancer, and in the middle of my mom hating me and my dad temporarily moving out of the house with her and moving in with ME and my family. It was rough, my back and stomach were hurting regularly to the point that I was thinking there was something physically wrong with me and I might need to go to a doctor and on a few occassions the ER. I don't really go to the doctor, so that's a big step for me. I see my dermatologist and my gyno for my regular check-ups and don't feel the need to see any other unless I'm near death. I was regularly developing lumps in my breasts and in other lymph areas and becoming increasingly concerned.

Then one night while my husband was traveling and my daughter sleeping, I saw a movie that I hadn't seen in years. City Slickers. Sure, it's a great & entertaining movie but on that one occassion, the movie actually SPOKE to me and I learned something from it. The secret of life. You have to find your one thing - that's what makes you happy. It's different for everyone, you have to find YOUR one thing. I was ecstatic and bawling by the end of the movie, but I did make some changes from then on. I took back control of my life and started working to find MY one thing.

Well, I found it. I know what my one thing is and refocusing my life around that one thing has given me back my health and sanity and my life. The pains and aches and lumps disappeared - all caused from stress. Of course the issues with life, my grandma, and my mom still cause stress - but not like it did before. Like water off a duck's back....you have to learn to let it roll off. Some might temporarily stick, but you have to find the sunshine and let it go. My one thing is so much stronger and brighter than any of the negative stuff; if I focus on that...I can live and enjoy my life.

Now listening to that radio show was a great reminder. Whatever MY problems or YOUR problems might be, they absolutely will always pale in comparison to those of another person. I certainly don't need a lung transplant and I am not the mother of that 16 year old girl who needs it either; no matter what I'm going through, it's nothing compared to the issues of those folks. So let it go and keep the good news. Let God take his time focusing on those who are REALLY in need of his help and learn to help yourself just a little bit more.

Who'd have thought you could learn something from City Slickers and a Country radio show? I have my one thing and I'm taken care of. I'm going to keep smiling at people as I drive my car and hope it rubs off. I couldn't ask for more out of life.

Thanks Billy Crystal.