Brave Enough To Be Bliss

As a self-hater, the only part of my body I saw perhaps had some redeeming quality would have been my eyes, and I think I said that because I believed they saw the best in other people , so it still wasn’t about me. My hands wouldn’t have been something I thought had any beauty at all in them, especially after the young son of a friend ran his fingers across my hand and said, “Old skin,” in my early 40s. I laughed, knowing he was a sweet little boy who was just speaking the truth, and because the alternative to age is death, I embrace whatever age I am, feeling fortunate I ’m alive to see that new number. Perhaps that’s the advantage of living 50 years wishing you were dead: when you finally get a chance at real life , you’re just happy to still be alive to enjoy it.

“Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer.” Rachel Joy Scott

This frame Kylee made was one of my favorite gifts because of the thought and effort behind it, and while someone else may have written the poem (link below), she gave me the words from her heart, and they deeply touched mine.

Her Hands by Maggie Pittman – Paws for thought (wordpress.com)

“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” Gever Tulley

My dad sent me this text on January 3, 2020. “ I so appreciate my mom for first introducing this poem to me. Many times, it has given me inspiration and courage in my life. Last night I shared the poem with a young man at a local bar. Even though we’d never visited before last night, he told me of some recent disappointments and difficult times. I pulled the poem up on my phone and let him read. He seemed very relieved and encouraged. Thanks mom, and to all who share this poem, may it help others when times are tough. ”

Learn Resilience From The 'Don't Quit' Poem (stresslesscountry.com)

While I knew he liked the poem, I hadn’t remembered that it came from his mom, so I appreciated the background. Certainly, this was important to him and it gave him inspiration and courage he passed

along to his family. And I have appreciated the fact that I have a strong work ethic and don’t give up easily when there’s something I want to accomplish , but just like all things, there is a potential negative side to this if it’s not met with balance.

As a child when he was trying to encourage me to not quit , what I heard was, “If you want me to be proud of you and love you, don’t you ever quit.” Those were not his words, but that is how I internalized his words.

In my case, there were no limits to the extent I would go to in order to achieve a goal. A good example of taking this concept too far came about during the process of writing this book. This link will explain.

Slow down for balance... (gingerbliss.life)

After I wrote this blog, I spontaneously invited my dad to come for the weekend while I was writing at Table Rock Lake . While I didn’t understand it fully at the time, it was my way of being comfortable with my decision to reset my deadline in order to take good care of my health, o r in my mind, to “quit” as I feared he might view my decision. I now prefer to face my fears instead of running away from them.

By the time he arrived, I knew I was solid in my decision, and it didn’t even matter how he felt about it, so I didn’t specifically bring it up . But we did have, by far, the most open, honest, and vulnerable conversations we

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