"Good" vs "Bad"

It's interesting to me how sometimes when something we consider "bad" happens, something "good" can come out of it.  Of course nothing is REALLY good or bad.  They're just experiences.  It's the judgement we make about them that makes them "good" or "bad".

When my brother passed away, of course I considered that bad.  But a cousin who lives in North Carolina sent flowers.  I haven't seen, talked to, or even heard about him in 40 plus years.  I sent him a thank you note and we've now reconnected.  Some unexpected  old friends and neighbors came to my brother's service and we've now also reconnected.  Reliable, wonderful family and friends came forward with help, love and support.

My mother was steadily declining for years before she left us.  People around her were wonderful.  They would visit, call, bring her food, offer to take her places and sent cards.

When a catastrophe such as an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, flood, fire,  or any other disaster happens, it's heartwarming to see people come forward with money, goods and help of all kinds.  If you can look for and recognize the good that happens because of a bad event, it helps to make it more tolerable.  It helps you to get through it and come out of it stronger and better than before.

Love, Paula

Another Lesson Learned

I learned another lesson during my Honduran trip.  I learned to get over myself.  In my adult life, I've been kind of self conscious about being seen in public in a bathing suit.  Because of this, I've missed many opportunities to have fun.

The first three days in Honduras were spent on the mainland.  The third day was the day that we went to the natural hot springs that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in my blog "Magic Moments".  As I mentioned, I was in the middle of a jungle, BUT I was with seventeen of my daughter-in-law's family members.  Because of what we were doing, we were all in bathing suits for the couple of hours that we were there.

The next day we went to Roatan which is a resort island off the coast of Honduras.  For four days our "uniform" was bathing suits, no makeup, and glasses.  You couldn't wear contacts because salt water tends to fuse them to your eyes.  Now I HAD to be seen in a bathing suit or stay at the house that we rented.  There was no way I wasn't going to participate in the planned activities.

You know what I discovered?  The only  person that cared about what I looked like or what I was wearing was ME.  I was the one holding myself back from having fun all these years.  How liberating!!!  I'm just sorry this lesson took me so long to learn.  Now I'm embracing life and looking forward to opportunities to do different, fun
things.

Love,  Paula

It's Official... I'm Old

On our birthdays this year, my husband and I turned 62.  As I mentioned in my previous blog "Aging" dated 10/1/12, age has never bothered me.  It just is what it is.  I don't feel any different.  It's just another day.

Since our birthdays, I have semi-retired and my husband has retired.  It's been wonderful so far.  There's so much to do in the summer and now we have more time to do it.  We've taken motorcycle rides, hiked, played golf, played miniature golf, gone to the beach, spent time with family, gone to picnics.  We're having lots of fun.

My husband is a pretty active guy.  He's also not a fan of winter.  He's starting to get concerned about what he's going to do with himself when the bad weather hits.  He started checking things out and decided to join a senior center.  That's right, I said a senior center. It was a discounted price for a couple, so he talked me into joining.  I don't know how much I'll use it since I'm still working part time and most events are earlier in the day, but we joined together anyway.

So now I'm a member of a SENIOR CENTER.  It's official... I'm old.

Love,  Paula

Win-Win

The other evening I felt so sick.  I also had insomnia.  I'm normally the person that can sleep through anything... and I have.  But that night I went to sleep at 10 PM, woke up at 11:00 PM and was awake until 4:30 AM when I FINALLY was able to fall back to sleep.  When I woke up at 9:30, I still felt ill.

My reason for telling you all that is because I know a way to make you feel better when you're not feeling great.  My normal MO is to feel sorry for myself for at least a day.  But THIS day I did something different.  I went out and helped other people.  It's amazing how when you're helping others and concentrating on them, you forget about all your aches, pains, and problems.  Focussing your energy and attention on others automatically makes YOU feel better.

This theory was confirmed a couple of days later.  I was still not completely well... intermittent headaches, stomach pain, and heartburn.  A friend called needing some help.  She came over to the house and my symptoms disappeared while I focussed my attention on her.

So the next time you're feeling a little off, go out and find someone to help.  It will make them feel better AND make you feel better too.  It's a win-win.

Love, Paula
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