The last 15 months have been a huge challenge for me in so many ways. My stroke
in March 2012 was really a wake up call and I have worked hard to change my
lifestyle since then.
My best friend and person I loved very much has all but disappeared out of my life.
Medical bills from the
stroke devastated my finances and after struggling for almost a year I finally
had to file for bankruptcy(got my final letter yesterday, it's all done and
legal).
The last two caused a minor back slide in my weight loss (about
15lbs up from my lowest weight) and it was a LONG difficult winter. I'm back now
and as Christina Perri put it, "...it took so long just to feel alright,
remember how to put back the light in my eyes."
Here are a few things
that I've learned over the last 15 months:
I'm infinitely stronger than I ever could have imagined.
Don't ignore your health. You
can only buy so much time before your body starts
to fall apart. You need to
bite the bullet and deal with it before it turns
into a crisis.
I
love you doesn't mean the same thing to everyone.
If a package says that
the contents are "Fat Free" it will, without exception, contain more
sodium and more
sugar to make it taste good.
You can't depend on anyone but yourself, no
matter who says differently (except
of course my
Momz, 'cause she's like someone mashed Wonder Woman and Mother
Theresa into a tiny little package).
Vegetables freaking ROCK! Really, they taste good, keep trying
them.
There will be people who will promise to be there for you always...
That's their way of giving you the kiss off and trying not feel like an asshole
for doing it. What they REALLY mean is that they've found new friends and you shouldn't
expect to hear from them again.
Food doesn't NEED salt. With proper use
of OTHER seasonings to enhance the
natural flavors.... it tastes pretty darn
good without salt.
That some people will consider you a "best friend"
when the only means they use
to communicate with you is to 'like' your FB
statuses.
I should have had more sympathy for my Dad all those times he
suffered from
Gout. Holy Moly, that is some painful crap!
When you're
at your lowest mentally and physically there WILL be someone who is
willing
to kick you and walk away.
Your body has an UNBELIEVABLE ability to heal
damage that you've done to it.
Seriously, it has a miraculous ability to
repair some serious issues if
you give it the change and a little
help.
When someone hurts you, you deserve the time to wallow and feel
bad. Don't let
them turn it around and say that you aren't handling it as well as
THEY think you
should be. We all grieve in our own way and screw them if
they don't like it.
Find a healthy and productive way to deal with
stress, anger, upset, or whatever
other emotion you're dealing with. It will
make life 100X easier for you and
everyone around you.
You can find
support, cheerleaders, and friendship in the strangest places.
Keep your
eyes open for them.
If someone says they want to help you grow or
anything similar, call BS on their
ass. What they really mean is "You don't
respond to things the way I think you
should, so there's something wrong
with you." I say that you are fine just the
way you are and if someone cares
about you they'll care about you when you're a
neurotic spastic MESS (If
that's who you are ;) ) just be the best neurotic
spastic mess that you can
be!
You don't NEED to have meat, vegetables, starch in every meal.
Really. The
world will NOT end and the Earth will NOT stop spinning if you
don't!
You don't have to be religious to be spiritual.
When you're
really down, there is no better bandaid than a good solid face mash
from a
cat. Extra points if you get covered in their happy drool at the same
time.
Kenny Rogers knew the secret to a happy life(yes, I said Kenny
Rogers)...
"You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Know
when to walk away and know when to RUN"
and that "The secret to surviving
is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep".
No comments:
Post a Comment