- “True abundance isn’t based on our net worth,
- it’s based on our self-worth.”
- Gabrielle Bernstein
 
“When the heart grieves over what it has lost,
the spirit rejoices over what it has left.”
Sufi Epigram
As I experience and heal from another grief journey, I try to be aware of how I am thinking since it makes a big difference in how I feel at the time. It makes such a difference and the quote is a great example of how we can think about losing a loved one.
In my experience, I am consumed at what I've lost at first. As time passes and the memories take over and the good times are what I think about, I am left with the awesome feeling of having had that loved one in my life at all with the good and the bad memories. Usually, I concentrate on the good.
Many people I know think this way. In fact, it is like they forget everything bad and think that they have turned a bad person into a saint in their mind. Sometimes I wonder who they are talking about. That way of thinking is how they cope with the loss.
First of all, I am so grateful to have experienced the love. On the other hand, I try to be realistic about the relationship I had with them. Sweeping bad memories under the rug can come back to haunt you. It comes down to life balances.
The main thing is gratefulness. It always brings a smile to my face.
My life has been like a roller coaster for as far back as when my Nana passed away when I was a young adult. It seems like I am always in the "learning how to live again without you" stage.
The hardest one is dealing with the decision to put Kiki to sleep. The devastating emotional decision came too soon after The Captain passed away and I became a true hermit.
Kiki was all the emotional support I needed and took comfort in her sweetness like when she'd put her paw on me, letting me know that she was here for me, or the look in her eyes that could talk to me without words. I depended on that love and comfort too much and loved her as much as I would have loved my own child that I never had. Signing that paper was the worse thing I have ever had to do in my whole life.
I know that I did a good thing for her since the vet told me she was so sick and loved her enough to not want her to go through pain. But making the decision to let her go is still haunting me, some days worse than others. At least I am experiencing decent days and am so grateful for finally having those days.
Now I am learning how to live alone while learning to live without those loved ones who are no longer with me. It is definitely a roller coaster of emotions. Interacting with others has become difficult for me since, at this time of my life, I have nothing to say to anyone. Look at my blog since The Captain passed away. I miss him terribly, the emotions are raw and I find it difficult to even want to speak to anyone at this time.
Once again, I am on medication for my anxiety after trying to live without it. Now I am trying a different one that works better.
My mom was recently back in town and I actually drove a short distance. It was not a complete success, although I did get out and even went to a restaurant twice. So I have made some progress even though there were some failures involved that have affected me negatively.
It is all good . . . progress is progress!
In my younger days, when I aspired to one thing or another, I didn't have time to be grateful or feel contentment. It was the "thing" that was all important.
As time goes on and life throws challenges at me, peace and contentment is what is all important. It is less complicated and leads to a happier life.
The book "Simple Abundance" changed my life so many decades ago when I started reevaluating what was important in my life. The change to a simpler life that made me so grateful for the nature and beauty in my back yard. My yard was beautiful with so much color and alive with the birds and squirrels that I fed. But after JR died, working in the yard was no longer satisfying. Nothing was. Grief does that to me.
The biggest lesson in my life has been dealing with grief and death. I've been through so many phases in my life that has made peace and contentment the most important. Knowing that no matter what, everything will be ok is the best feeling in the world at this point in my life.
I've wiped the dust off of my book "Simple Abundance" and hope to find more peace and contentment. It is about time that I remember hope is a good thing.
The tragic fires in California this past week have given me so much to think about life, hopes and dreams and gratitude. In the course of life, going after our hopes and dreams or experiencing difficult life circumstances, we sometimes get overwhelmed and forget to be grateful. It is human nature and doesn't mean that we are an ungrateful person.
Since The Captain passed away last year and having to make the difficult decision to put my sweet fur baby Kiki to sleep recently, grief has taken me over and although I am usually grateful for everything I have been blessed with, the deep pain within has consumed me.
Those in the path of those fires not only face losing their home, but their lifestyle. The lucky ones will still have their home, but friends and neighbors will probably be gone, all the familiar places like grocery stores and schools gone. No doubt these "lucky" people will feel that horrible feeling of deep grief that will change their life forever. And like grief from a physical death, they will probably feel profound guilt.
No matter what their circumstance, most had hopes and dreams. Some achieved dreams, some had future dreams . . . both are perceived gone at first.
Having watched way too many hours of news, it has made me think about life in general and have ultimately realized how grateful I am for everything I have been blessed with and I can have new hopes and dreams for my life.
The following poem and all that thinking made it all make sense.
As a person who has gone to sleep watching television forever because I hate silence and am especially fearful of darkness, I was not in the best frame of mind with Hurricane Milton taking out my electricity before the storm even started and didn't come back on for three or four days later. I have honestly lost track of time or even what day it is.
It had only been a few days since I had to put my precious fur baby Kiki to sleep, so I was a big mess already. A week or so before, Kiki and I went through Hurricane Helene alone with her on my lap on the couch . . . having her with me was a comfort and I felt better. I went through the latest hurricane sitting alone on the couch without the emotional comfort of my precious girl. I miss her so much.
The dark silence of those days haunted me, making the feelings of grief and the hole in my heart from losing Kiki and The Captain even more intense, making me lonelier than I have ever felt in my life. But I remained as calm as I could possibly be and made it through a very stressful time. Honestly, I did have a few times of freaking out. I'm not a brave person, but have become stronger as I get older and experience more life.
The storm was brutal. News reports state that Tampa received winds of up to 100 mph. They were not all gusts . . . at times the winds were sustained for what seemed like forever. I thought the roof was going to fly off my house, but it didn't. God was there to protect me. The only damage was a knocked over mailbox. Surprising and grateful!
Going through the process of hearing the news that Kiki was sick and ultimately having her put to sleep was one of the worse times I have ever experienced in my life. She was my baby and constant companion for 12 years, but she had an awesome life with so much love after the Captain and I rescued her from the shelter. They found her roaming the streets, lost and alone. That is another story.
I guess God doesn't think I need peace yet. He has more for me to learn.
In the past couple of days, I have been drawn to songs that remind me of the beginning of my relationship with The Captain. They brought up so many awesome memories that took me back to the time like it was yesterday. That is what I love so much about music, it takes you there.
In this phase of grief, I can say that I have found the joyful melody of life with The Captain, remembering the great times with a smile on my face. And just as fast as the smile appeared, so do the tears of a time in my life that is gone forever.
The next grief phase will hopefully focus on the great times and the memories with only smiles and less sorrow. I will listen to your song forever in my heart and the song will play softly, soothing my soul.
Cherish the music!
If we are to have true peace in the world, we must first find it within ourselves.
"Most people agree that a more peaceful world would be an ideal situation for all living creatures. However, we often seem stumped as to how to bring this ideal situation into being. If we are to have true peace in this world, each one of us must find it in ourselves first. If we don't like ourselves, for example, we probably won't like those around us. If we are in a constant state of inner conflict, then we will probably manifest conflict in the world. If we have fighting within our families, there can be no peace in the world. We must shine the light of inquiry on our internal struggles, because this is the only place we can really create change."
You can read the rest of the article here.
"This is a difficult time of year for many who struggle with depression. The toughest time of the year for depression tends to be around the Holidays. Please be aware of those around you. Say an extra prayer, touch an extra hand, smile an extra smile. You are the difference! Please take the time to put this on your wall to help raise awareness of, and for those who have mental health difficulties."
| Difficult Times | 
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We can also benefit from times of constriction and difficult to help us grow and learn. This period of time in history is full of difficulty for a lot of human beings, and you may feel less alone knowing you are not being singled out. There are extreme energy changes pulsing through the universe at every level and, of course, we are all part of the growing process and the growing pains. It helps if we remember that life is one phase after another and that this difficult time will inevitably give way to something new and different. When we feel overwhelmed we can comfort ourselves with the wise saying: This too shall pass. At the same time, if you truly feel that nothing is going right for you, it's never a bad idea to examine your life and see if there are some changes you can make to alleviate some of the difficulty. Gently and compassionately exploring the areas giving you the most trouble may reveal things you are holding onto and need to release: unprocessed emotions, unresolved transitions, or negative ways of looking at yourself or reality. As you take responsibility for the things you can change, you can more easily surrender to the things you can't, remembering all the while that this phase will, without doubt, give way to another. | 
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Our approach to gratefulness has to be big enough to embrace all the difficulties of the world. | 
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Br. David Steindl-Rast 
Natural disasters bring all types of damage.  It seems like the severity of damage is a roll of the dice.  Degrees of sacrifice range from modest to extreme. 
In the scope of Hurricane Irma hitting the Florida Keys with Category 5 force that left extreme devastation as far as the eye can see, I am so grateful for what seems like such minor damage we received from Category 1 force winds, even though after almost two months, we still can't live in our house. That is the approach to gratefulness we have chosen in the situation we find ourselves in. While I am angry that a huge tree limb covers the back side of our roof, making it impossible to assess the complete damage after all this time, I am grateful that there is a chance FEMA will help us rebuild, even though they turned us down the first time, prolonging the process, the agony and worsening the damage to our home. Our appeal is being processed and it could take up to 90 days before we know if we are receiving financial help or not. We have no other choice than to exercise faith and patience. The alternative is total insanity, which I teeter off the edge of. It feels like time has stood still for us. Nevertheless, our approach has been one of total gratefulness, which has made everything much more tolerable despite emotional living conditions thrown at us that are best explained as manic. Enough said about that . . . it has been one of the most difficult times of my life! With The Captain by my side, I have made it with my sanity intact thus far and for that I am so grateful! | 


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The following entry was originally posted on December 4, 2007 and remains my favorite post ever. 
  December . . . the magical time of year is upon us . . . yet in contrast, brings us the longest and darkest nights of the year . . . perhaps delivering the mystical powers of the moon. 
    Isn't it all an illusion anyway, how we perceive our lives? Where we are in life . . . happy time, sad time, time of transition? 
The magical season is believed by many to hold miracles . . . Santa Claus and fairy tales.  Miracles don't always come in pretty boxes wrapped up with beautiful bows . . . sometimes they don't come at all.  What deems one person worthy of a miracle and the other not?  Was it the degree of naughty or nice?  I don't know and I'm trying to figure it out . . . who holds that magic wand? 
As I weave my tapestry of contentment for this magical season, joy comes in the form of memories of Christmas past filled with love and laughter in my heart.  I miss JR so much that I STILL scream into a pillow to let the sadness out.  It does help . . . but the withdrawals for a person that you loved and lost can't be compared to anything else in life. 
Every year as the pumpkins are decorated and set out in the night with candlelight to illuminate the darkness, the dread creeps up on me . . . the witching hour has arrived and it is time to be reminded that I should be joyous and happy.   But I'm not . . . my fairy tale ended.  The one who holds the magic wand is nowhere to be found . . . the only pumpkins I see light the night . . . at least it is not total darkness. 
I'm blessed and grateful for contentment of survival during my life's transitions . . . I have everything I need, even if not what I want.  What I want lives in my memories and this season reminds me of what I lost . . . yet in this magical time I know miracles happen at their appropriate time when least expected. My real life fairy tale began on a Christmas night long ago when I thought the one holding the magic wand had forgotten about me another year. I met JR on Christmas night in a club that played country music, where a pop music princess and a rock & roll music freak would normally never be found . . . but there we were, both in an unlikely place on an unlikely night . . . the miracle of destiny awaited us and lasted a lifetime. Yes, I still believe in miracles and never lose hope that I will find that joy and happiness again when destiny calls me again. 
While this is a sad time of year for me, I have my family and it is getting easier as the years go by.  Although I struggle with it, I am fairly well adjusted and can handle it.  However, there are people in this world who have no one . . . this is the time of year suicides are on the rise . . . the joyous season is also the lonely season to many who have experienced some type of loss or hardship in their life.  Reach out to someone you know who is not as fortunate as yourself this time of year . . . it could make such a difference in their life . . . 
I hope rather than bringing you down, I made you think about how fragile life is and to be so grateful for and appreciate those you love.  Love like there is no tomorrow . . . 
Happy holidays my friends . . . peace, love and happiness . . . 
   Sentimental Lady | Bob Welch Lyrics You are here and warm But I could look away and you'd be gone Cause we live in a time When meaning falls in splinters from our lives And that's why I've travelled far Cause I come so together where you are And all of the things that I said that I wanted Come rushing by in my head when I'm with you 14 joys and a will to be merry And all of the things that we say are very Sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one Now you are here today But easily you might just go away Cause we live in a time When paintings have no color, words don't rhyme And that's why I've travelled far Cause I come so together where you are And all of the things that I said that I wanted Come rushing by in my head when I'm with you 14 joys and a will to be merry And all of the things that we say are very Sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one You are here and warm But I could look away and you'd be gone Cause we live in a time When meaning falls in splinters from our lives And that's why I've travelled far Cause I come so together where you are Yes and all of the things that I said that I wanted Come rushing by in my head when I'm with you 14 joys and a will to be merry And all of the things that we say are very Sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one Sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one Sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one Well sentimental gentle wind Blowing through my life again Sentimental Lady Gentle one |