My View from the Top of the World

I've written before about some people's words just sticking with me.  I've thought about this concept non-stop since a cousin mentioned it.  She happens to be a cousin who has dealt with more than her fair share of *2020* if you can pick up what I'm laying down, there.  2020 has come with unprecedented tribulation, but, Lord, some people have definitely had it worse than others.   Cousin is a smart and deep thinker, with a unique perspective on life.  Additionally, she frequently, and unabashedly, shares that perspective.  Recently, she announced that she was rather sick and tired of being expected to be happy all the time, or to be positive, or to have a "positive mindset."  When you think about it, there is a ton of pressure to seek happiness and to be positive.  Not without good intent - being positive and happy feels great, and beats almost all of the alternatives, hands down.    But the lists... "The Ten Habits of Happy People,...

  Much of the inspiration for my writing comes from music and song lyrics.  Knowing that September is National Suicide Prevention Month & National Recovery Month, that this week is National Suicide Prevention Week, and that yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Awareness Day - it was rather fortuitous that this song ~ Don't Give Up, by Peter Gabriel ~ came on while I was running this morning. (Also fortuitous that I hadn't started this entry, because I would have had to start over...) Got to walk out of here - I can't take any more - Gonna stand on that bridge - Keep my eyes down below - Whatever may come - And whatever may go - That river's flowing... I've never been suicidal, but I did have one, rather frightening, ah-ha moment.  At the end of one of my darker days, I remember thinking, "I just don't want to live my days like this any more."  Notice the difference:  "I don't want to live like this" vs "I want to die."  Wh...

  Every so often, someone says something to you, and it sticks.  During some of my darker moments, one of my coping strategies has been to collect quotes and memes.  I've got digital albums full of them.  The one above has been particularly helpful when supporting other people, including my kids.  Because it's true, everything is figureoutable , and that's one reason why worry and anxiety are such fruitless occupations of the mind.  Even though, as a family, we have faced some difficult and heartbreaking situations, we've always come out the other side - usually better and stronger for it.  The alternative - not coming out the other side - is unthinkable. So, let's just say, figureoutable stuck with me.    Early into my first year of grad school, the guy I thought I was going to marry broke up with me, seemingly out of the blue.  Devastated, obviously, I spent a couple of days asleep before I simply had to eat!  At the time, I ...