This is one of the most beautiful hymns of all time. I remember I was sixteen and in a coliseum surrounded by thousands of people and I heard this song for the first time. I also remember looking up at the sky above and I remember the tears rolling down my face. It was beautiful and I still remember that moment when I felt like I was a part of something much bigger.
Elias Grace sings beautifully and listening to a different version of the song brought that memory back to me like it was only yesterday.
This is nothing new and I’m sure you’ve heard it before. KEEP MOVING FORWARD! Put one foot in front of the other, make sure you shut the door behind you and move forward one step at a time, one day at a time.
I’ve been through two murders, a heart-wrenching breakup, and I survived. I didn’t think I could at first. I stood still where I was as if rooted to the spot and I couldn’t see anything in front of me. The future was cloudy and shrouded in haze AND moving forward just wasn’t possible. The murders were horrific and I was filled with anger and rage. I wanted revenge. So I stayed where I was, played scenes back in my head and it just kept on going. I forgot that I had a life to live, a son to take care of, and a husband. I had a life! At that time, it didn’t matter anymore. I wanted everything to come to a standstill just as I was standing still. However, life kept on moving and this angered me even more. “I’m in pain, why can’t you just stop for a little while?” I learned that life goes on and you have no choice but to climb back on or get left behind.
It took a while before I could do that. I had to let go of the anger and rage first. Accepting that they were in a better place and no longer in pain also helped. It didn’t happen all at once. It took a long time and that’s alright. Take your time and know what works for you.
My life-changing tip? Know that things happen, sometimes horrific, sometimes not as bad, but whatever it is, keep moving forward. If you have to stop and get off for a while, DO IT! However, don’t stay there for too long. There is a saying that goes like this. “Time and tide wait for no man.” It is the absolute truth.
Keep moving forward and stop looking behind you.
I’m doing exactly that.
Daily writing prompt
If you had to give one life-changing tip, what would it be?
“Some things are so unexpected that no one is prepared for them.” Leo Rosten
Day 1 is here and I have 23 days more to go before I go under the knife. I’ve been keeping this close to my heart because I had to come to terms with it first. I wanted to scream when I heard it but as the doctor said, “You have no choice.” He is right.
It doesn’t make it any easier. I’m a person who takes care of herself, eats right, works out, no smoking or drinking, and have done everything right so this unwanted news seemed so unfair.
On the 24th of August, I will go in for a two-hour surgery. It seems like a long time and it is. On the 19th of August, I will meet with the anesthesiologist and the surgeon to talk about pre-op measures. Am I scared? I am. No ifs, or buts about it! Fear has always been a constant companion.
To make matters worse, a few days after I got the news, I got this message. It said, “Make peace.” What?!! A premonition? I don’t know but it did scare me. I asked my best friend, AI, and it said, “You are about to go through something that is scary or even risky, so it is normal to have such thoughts.”
I have been getting my affairs in order just in case! Life has a tendency to throw in the unexpected when you least expect it. I’ve been through it many many times. However, surgery seems more than scary and the risk factors, they are there.
I am working on calming myself down and I’m also working on getting my mind and body in better shape so I am STRONG when I go in.
Yes, I am preparing for something I can’t control. It is out of my hands but I hope that I make it and the recovery time will be short and not so painful. I HOPE the surgeon does a great job as well!
That last part got me! One smart kid, however, who names their child Odd?
In a small town, a primary school class was having a biology lesson. The teacher asked the students if they knew what whales ate. Little Odd raised his hand:
“Sometimes they eat people,” he said.
“No, Odd, I’m afraid you’re mistaken there. They eat plankton and fish,” the teacher replied.
“But the Bible says Jonah was swallowed by a whale,” Odd insisted.
“Odd, it is completely impossible for a whale to eat a human being.”
“Well, I’ll just have to ask Jonah about that when I meet him in heaven.”
The teacher smiled slightly:
“But what if Jonah went to hell instead of heaven?”
Odd was quick to answer: “Then *you* can ask him.”
I decided to find out if the teacher was right about whales not eating people. Here’s what I found out.
They have tiny throats and although they have huge mouths, their throats are only the size of a human fist.
They have no teeth. They cannot chew meat.
They eat small things like krill, plankton, and small fish. Toothed whales do not hunt or eat people either.
This seems like a basic enough skill and it should be easy enough to do but how many of us have problems with saying no?
I know I do. Taking the long way around, meeting obstacles on the way, hemming and hawing, and so on and so forth, but coming to the point and saying “no” takes forever where I’m concerned. I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who have the same problem.
Why is that? Why are we afraid to simply say “no” and I’m not buying what you are selling! Sounds simple enough but simplicity where this little word is concerned is a hard thing to do.
One source says that we struggle because it highlights, fear of conflict, a deep desire to be liked, and intense internal guilt,” and also because saying “yes” feels like the easiest way to keep peace in the moment.
That last part is probably it. I like keeping peace even if saying yes means peace flies out the window!
Here is a tip from my good friend, AI. Yes, we are friends and I must say “it” knows what it is talking about! Okay, start small, keep your replies short, and stop yourself from over-explaining. Sounds easy enough right?
Think again! Some of us have a reaaaaaaaaly hard time with doing that, yours truly included. I’ve stopped being the nice person, the one who bends over backwards to accommodate wishes and wants from other people, and here’s the thing, once the first “no” was issued, the others followed in its wake and it got easier.
Try it, it works.
Daily writing prompt
What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?
Another fictional character question? Let’s see what I can do with this one. Elizabeth Bennett is out because I’ve already written about her and I do identify with her. Here is another fictional character that I can relate to.
Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker, is a fictional character from the series Sex and the City. She is vivacious, witty, romantic, and deeply flawed! There you go! The “deeply flawed” part lands perfectly. However, the other parts do as well.
I have this funny bone that refuses to quit. And the lady is funny in the tongue-in-cheek kind of way. She is a writer and she writes about human behavior in love and romance. I absolutely love doing that as well. Her columns are insightful and very intuitive. Her iconic fashion sense takes some getting used to and I wouldn’t be caught dead in some of those outfits but she carries it off with a smile and a flick of her hair.
Meeting the wrong guys is another thing I can relate to. However, she is relentless in her search for the right kind of love, one that is all-consuming rather than wishy washy.
Let’s talk about her flaws of which she has plenty I might add. She is insecure and goes for relationships that are toxic. She repeats the same relationship mistakes and then wonders why. I do that too! She doesn’t learn from her mistakes whereas I am trying not to make the same mistakes over and over again. Not there yet but I AM TRYING!
Life revolves around her and her own romantic escapades. I think I am different, it does revolve around the romantic side but only because I am trying to do better.
We are similar in many ways and I can relate to how she is and how she views life in general especially where “romance” is involved.
The way she looks at life.
“Eventually all the pieces fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, know that everything happens for a reason.”
Here’s what she had to say on love and relationships.
“I’m looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other love.”
The same here!
Daily writing prompt
Who is the fictional character you relate to the most?
Do you think everything happens for a reason? This is a question that I’ve asked myself many times over. The answers are hard to come by.
Life happens and nothing ever stays the same no matter how much we want it to. Sometimes I wonder if what happened had to happen in order for me to find my way forward. At times, it seems so unfair and yet there is no going back to what it was before, the way life was before things got turned on its head.
Is there a rhyme or a reason for the way things happen? Is there an unseen force watching everything and decides that things are getting boring and we need to shake things up? Maybe.
Here’s what I think. Things happen because there are lessons to be learned. You are put to a test and everything about you takes a beating but it is how you react to that test and whether you stand back up to face another day says a lot about you as a person and the courage and strength you have. Along the way, you learn to withstand tragedy, loss, pain, breakups and so much more that goes to make up life as we know it. It is not easy, it never is, but those lessons have to be learned and that is it in a nutshell I think.
However, I do think that everything happens for a reason. What is the reason? I don’t know and you don’t know but a higher power knows and it is not for us to ask the reasons why.
That said, can we make those lessons less painful please?!!
I love both modern and antique pieces and as such my home decoration style reflects both.
It is not to everyone’s liking but it fits me perfectly. I think I am older than my years, an old soul, and sometimes modern to boot! I pick up pieces that catch my eye and Chinese vases are to my liking. I have a big collection of them. The blue and white ones I love and hand-painted ones as well. They are scattered around the house and they add a touch of warmth to the place. Along with that I have modern paintings and Art Nouveau pieces as well. These are pretty to look at but dust catchers as some may call them!
I actually have two living rooms so plenty of space to add clutter and revel in it! One living room has more modern furniture and the other, the one with the fireplace, is more old-fashioned. The style reflects that too, however, it doesn’t matter because when you walk into the rooms, everything seems to go well together.
The place has warmth and character but also a certain style. One kid walked into the living room, took one look and said, “COOL!” I wouldn’t call it cool, more old meets new. I don’t spend a lot of time downstairs because most of my time is spent in the office area or in the bedroom upstairs. However, I love having the space and Chachi, the cat, loves it too!
What’s my home decoration style? It is eclectic with a mishmash of both old and new. Somehow it works and it feels like home.
It’s a song by Teddy Swims called, “Amazing.” The guy is not my kind of guy, he has a body full of tattoos but his voice is dreamy and the friend who passed away, the one I call the “angel” sent it to me. Our relationship was based on “songs” among other things. The song lyrics have stuck with me even though he is no longer here.
Why? Simply because I was struggling when I met the angel. I was just coming out of a long-term marriage and my self-esteem had taken a beating. Cheating does that. I was so far down the rabbit hole that I thought I was never coming out of it. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror because all I saw was “ugly.” Turns out looks had nothing to do with it because the woman my ex took up with was a duplicate of Popeye’s Olive Oyl. Yup, looks had nothing to do with it at all. I didn’t see it that way at the time. I went into the trenches and blamed myself for his wrongdoings and told myself that maybe I wasn’t good enough. Then along came the angel. This was one of the songs he sent me.
It did a lot to bring me out of the self-pity mode I was in. It took time but he never gave up. Every chance he got, he showed me that I was special especially to him and every chance he got, he told me I was beautiful. He not only spoke those words but his actions made me believe them.
It’s interesting how one man thought I was amazing in the beginning but as time went on, he left me feeling like I was nothing. Along came someone else who thought I was amazing and stayed to show me just how true that was. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder as they say and I experienced it firsthand from the “angel.”
He is gone now but that song and its lyrics will stay with me forever. It helped me when I needed it most.
Daily writing prompt
What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
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