There Is An Upside

The last couple of posts have been a bit on the "bummer" side of life. But life hasn't always brought me thorns. Most days I do believe, in a sort of pollyannish way, that God will never give us more than we can handle. The "with his help" bit is rather implied - I'm sure a contract lawyer could have a field day with that promise... but regardless of your religious belief, it does seem to hold true: with the support of your friends you can get through anything. That doesn't mean you'll "get through it" and not be changed. After all, life is about change. But if we are willing to reach out and ask for help, generally we're going to find the support from without and the strength from within to endure another day.

I've been blessed in my life. Do I have the perfect family? No - by no means could we even begin to say that. But I do have a very good relationship with one of my sisers [we still mother each other] and I have a quasi relationship with my baby brother [let's face it, it's hard to be on the same page with a sibling who is young enough to be your son - he's 17 and I'm 40 - do the math]. I have a healing relationship with my father and feel fortunate in that because I know that very few adults have the chance to reconnect with parents who were absent during those early years. And then of course there are those extended family members who know the score and who have, themselves, survived the same things. They keep in touch and serve as a reminder that "it's not just me". I wouldn't trade my family... may not want to keep all of them, but hey! I guess we'll just have to make do.

I also have some wonderful friends. To this day people continue to ask if my best friend and I are sisters. We are! Sisters in spirit anyway. She's seen me in my most awful of moments and loves me still. I can only hope that all of you are fortunate enough to have a friend like that regardless if it's your sibling, spouse, partner or BFF. There are people I can count on across the globe to provide moral support in those difficult moments of life. People I've met in person, people I'd like to meet in person, and people I know I'll never meet. Sometimes these folks don't even realize the impact they have on the life of another and I go through cycles in acknowledging it [sometimes I forget those simple thank you's and othertimes I seem to go overboard with them].

There is more than enough love and support in my life to "get through" anything. I haven't always liked the paths I've travelled. It's taken a good deal of introspective dealings to realize that many of those paths were of my own doing [duh!] and could have been avoided. But would I be the me that I am today??

Today, I get to experience the upside of life. I get to be a mother, a friend, a fan, a supporter, a daughter, a sister, a niece, a granddaughter, an aunt. I get to love the people in my life and be loved by them. I get to help them through their dark (and happy) moments just as they've helped me.

See, life may not be perfect. But there is an upside.