Something To Live For

A friend of mine, Kevin, has been in the hospital for over 100 days now.  I visited last week when he was still in ICU and again today in a real room.  I'm proud of him.  In his own words, "I'm a warrior."  Yes.  He is.  The hospital stay isn't the only thing he's overcoming.  His wife passed away right before all the hospital adventure began.  He didn't even get to go to her funeral.  But he's fighting on.  When I saw him today, all wired-up with IVs and the trach and monitors and dialysis machine, holding up his hand, the first finger and thumb an inch apart, he tells me he's "this far" from getting to the rehab center.  He's a warrior.

When I leave him I think, "What makes him fight so much?  Why keep going?"  Then I remember his face lit up when he talked about his kids and how amazing his mom and aunt have been.  He's got plans to do great things with them.  His life has changed in a heartbeat - literally.  And he's ready to be changed.  I'm super proud of my friend.

He has something to live for.  His something isn't some THING...it's a few SOMEONEs...  

Do you have something or someone to live for?  I'm asking myself that question right now.

Slaying The Double-Headed Dragon

I wrote a blog post recently about 5 Ways to Conquer The Deadly D's to help give readers some action items to get out of their "pit."  But I wanted to share here in my personal blog some deeper insight.

I have been plagued my whole life with a feeling of "not good enough."  I know where it stems from, and I recognize it daily.  It affects everything I do, in both positive and negative ways.  When I get distracted and let my guard down, I can feel the attack of "you're a failure, nothing's going to work, why even try," coming on.  That's negative.  When I am more focused, driven, energetic, committed, and confident, I hear in my spirit, "Bring it!"  That's positive. That's why dealing with the distractions that open the door to doubt is the first key in conquering that negative pit of despair. For me, anyway.

But when I hear a friend tell me, "I feel like I can't do anything right anymore, I've lost faith in myself." I go into protective warrior mode for them.  I want to help attack those thoughts and feelings.  To shield my friend from the distracting messages that inundate us all daily.  I want to battle the enemy head-on and slay the double-headed dragon of doubt and discouragement from their heart.  Because that dragon will scorch everything in it's path to destruction.  This warrior queen will fight for her friend.  This protective friend will stand in the gap when they can't stand for themselves.

If you are one that has those same kinds of messages roaming your mind, know I am willing to be in the battle with you.  To fight for you.  To swing the lasso of truth and the sword of strength to bring the dragon into submission.  You are not alone.

What a Night!

Last night was set-aside to help my dear friend Stephanie find a new laptop computer. Stephanie and I are like these old girlfriends that never skip a beat even when we don't get to talk for months. So after work and a couple of errands, I pick her up to go eat then to Best Buy.

Her and her family are just so wonderful. Five kids - all different personalities - her and her hubby are full of energy - and one of her passions is organic everything. Shoot, she grinds her own wheat flour to make her own dough to make breads, crusts, etc. And for those of you that have tried her bread, you know it's just fabulous. Well, Stephanie is setting up a home recording "studio." With a laptop and microphone, she can go into a closet and have a ready-made recording studio. So our mission was to get her a reasonable laptop at a reasonable price.

But first, dinner. She took me to this amazing place I had not been exposed to: Shiraz Mediterranean Grill. It was great! We had this grain salad - Quinoa (which was fascinating to try!), and shish kabobs. They make everything fresh, handmade and beyond delicious. They make their own yogurt every day. And the atmosphere was very metro & laid-back. The owner was so gracious, and Stephanie has been there so many times she's like family!

We talked and talked and talked and talked (shouldn't surprise anyone), then we finally looked at the time - not sure if we would make it before Best Buy closed!

So off we go - and get to Best Buy as they have the doors wide open waiting for the lingering customers to finish their purchases. We run up to the door and ask if they'd like to sell us a laptop - SURE! Less than 10 minutes later we were walking back out with a brand new laptop. And what's even better - it was a Dell for about $150 less than I had priced last week!

Awesome refreshing girl's night!