If you have visited my blog in the past (thank you), you may have noticed that I haven’t written for a while. That’s because the past four years have been extremely difficult for my family (even before COVID and social unrest). We experienced Alzheimer’s, betrayal, bullying, harassment, a painful back injury, weight gain, a dog attack, and death. I was filled with constant anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and sadness. But through it all, Michael and I had each other – and Indy, who was always there with a woof and a waggy tail.
Some of the challenges have passed; some of the challenges continue. Although things are still tough, it is time to heal.
How do you begin a journey to heal? I’m not quite sure… I started to read about grief, getting over hurt, wellness, and happiness. While talking with my aunt, she brought up the concept of resilience – oh, I like that.
I do not know where the journey will go, what I will find, or how long it will take. As I travel, I will write about some of the things I experience and learn. At first I was unsure if I should share personal and painful feelings. But I decided to write because I have found it helpful – and sometimes inspiring – to read other people’s stories of resilience.
The first step in a journey to heal
One thing I realized is that living with constant uncertainty and stress makes it difficult to focus on anything else. It can cause you to lose touch with the things that contribute to happiness. The first post in my healing journey will be about one of those things – kindness.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, or anger, or doubt, but the willingness to truly live, to include ALL of yourself, the messy and painful bits too. Courage not as the eradication of your vulnerable humanness, but as the willingness to make mistakes, to fall down, to get back up again; to keep going, even though you lost your map, even though you don’t know the way, even though you feel scared and broken and doubt your ability to walk THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. AND THERE NEVER WAS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE, OR WERE TOLD. YOU ARE COMPLETE WHOLE EXACTLY AS YOU ARE: Jeff Foster ” The Way of Rest”