Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2016

Where is Your Focus When Life Throws You a Curve?

When calamity strikes, how do you cope?  Have you ever had to suffer the loss of everything you hold dear in this world?  After years of traumatic events in my life, I was constantly asked to "write a book" because as difficult as it was to believe, people would draw strength from it.

I did write the book and that is precisely what happened.  I firmly believe we need to share our stories to help others who may be experiencing a similar dilemma.  Hence, my talk show was born - interviewing ordinary people who went through extraordinary circumstances and remarkably survived.  They give us tips and coping skills in dealing with the curves life throws at you.

THEN....smack in the middle of one of the greatest pains in my life (read about it here) the fires in Fort McMurray started.  Around the world, people pulled together to support those who had to flee their homes. Many of them did not have a chance to retrieve their wallets, or heartbreaking to believe -- their pets.  That story is here.  That post was written in response to a prompt challenge in a blogging group.  

Imagine my surprise when the next challenge was to use words that tied in precisely with those fires.  A fellow blogger at Climaxed gave me the words honey ~ blowing ~ fort ~ fireplace ~ problematic ~ social anxiety.

I was not expecting to grieve so deeply for the people in Fort McMurray, but it was too close to home.  My daughter and her family recently moved from there and they have friends and family who work there.  This tragedy is far from over and will affect lives for a long while.  In light of the fact that the summer has not yet started, the world prays for rain, the blowing winds to cease, and cooler temperatures.

The social anxiety that comes with these disasters is often bittersweet.  The tragedy can be beyond coping but it draws families and communities together.  We learn very quickly what is important in our lives.  As difficult as it is to lose our possessions, we cherish the people in our lives on a deeper level.


Friday, July 24, 2015

If You Quit, You'll Never Know if You Would Have Made It

This past month is a blur.  It is hard to believe that less than a week ago, my world shifted on its axis. Has that ever happened to you?  Sometimes our lives change in an instant; it could be a good thing..... or not so good.

I have had more than the allotted amount of difficult times that any one person should have to endure in a lifetime. Yet, almost daily, I am reminded that I am blessed and more fortunate than millions of other people.


There is good stress and bad stress.  Sometimes they are equally difficult to handle.  After years of things going wrong, discouragement after discouragement, shattered dreams and broken promises, I became conditioned to question everything, not trusting; yet never giving up hope that someday, somehow, somewhere, it would be my turn.   Often it would take every ounce of effort I could muster to get up in the morning and make it through another day.

Putting one foot in front of the other seemed a greater feat than I might be able to accomplish.  I had to stay strong.  It was a constant battle.




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