This is NOT the End of Your Story

As beautiful as the Christmas season is, it can be very difficult for many people to enjoy.  There are those of us who have lost someone close, perhaps a family member or dear friend.  It has been said that the 'first' Christmas after such a loss is especially challenging.  There are so many triggers to the memory of that loss.  

But we pick ourselves up off the ground and know that each year it will be a bit easier.  Or is it?  For some, it is still a serious emotional struggle.  They may hide it well and few people know or understand the pain of that loss.  When my son and his family walked away from our family five years ago, I maintained an attitude of hope that he would return before the year-end.  I will continue to maintain that attitude although sometimes that thread of hope gets thinner - I still hang on.  I will never give up.  I know it is not the end of the story.

What that loss has done is make me more empathetic to those who have lost much more than I have.  We cannot measure the bereavement for anyone other than ourselves because each of us process pain differently.  

But the season of Christmas is a reminder that we have much to be thankful for, to be joyful and enjoy the good memories and new ones we are about to make.

What memories we will make this
Christmas with these precious ones

Is There A Secret to Stop Doing Stupid Things?

Sometimes I do dumb things.  At the time they don't seem so stupid, but hindsight is a great teacher.  I was speaking at a conference for three days last month and was hosted in a beautiful home.  After arriving at my destination, I wanted to wash my hair quickly and assumed the bathtub was the best place to do that.  I knelt on a throw rug and s t r e t c h e d my neck to reach the bathtub faucet.  About an inch shy of the faucet, I stretched some more by "standing" on my tip toes.  There!  I could do this!

BUT.....the rug slipped out from under me and I landed on the metal edge of the shower track on the tub.  I heard the noise and before the pain set in, I said out loud "NO!"  I heard my ribs crack.  My mind raced wondering how I was going to stand in high heels while speaking each day for a few hours let alone carry boxes of my books into the venue.

I managed and no one noticed.  But when I got home and relaxed later that week, the pain intensified.  Funny how that works.

I was excited to be featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul's Newsletter at this event.  I was selling my books as well as the Chicken Soup ones I have written a contribution.

Does one dumb thing lead to another?