WITH PEN WILL TRAVEL

Adversity affects each of us differently. There is no correct or incorrect way to respond to things that happen to us. How we deal with our problems is a reflection of the person we have become.

I have been gone from this blog for much too long. However, for me, I just “shut down” for awhile. There was more energy going out than coming back in, and I gradually curled up into my very own safe cocoon – until, finally, I made a decision.

Not quite yet a year ago, my twelve-year old canine companion was beginning to fail and finally died. Almost six months later, my warm and friendly feline who was sixteen also died. The person who should have been closest to me also failed me. Knowing I had dug myself into a hole, a series of events led to a decision to move – away. Away from sadness, and away from adversity. Not that the distance has taken either out of my life, but it has made things somewhat easier to bear. It has allowed me to think. It has made it helped me to move forward.

Not all of us respond similarly. Some respond with anger and never move beyond that point, pushing everyone they meet away. Others cry uncontrollably and live much of the rest of their lives as victims, defeated. I refuse to live a life of anger – it only reaps greater adversity. While I may still shed some tears as time goes on, I will not be a victim. I am taking my power back with the written word – a magnificent privilege in which I have always believed.

I would like to take this moment to thank my closest friends and relatives for their support and understanding as I have worked my way through this transition. I know that my solution may not be what you may have chosen, but know that – at least for now – it was the right one for me. The wonderful thing about this world in which we live is that we CAN change things. We CAN allow ourselves to CHANGE. We have only NOW. Let us live the rest of our lives strongly, formidably, and without regrets. Let us appreciate the gift of life. Let us use the talents we have been given.