THE IN-BETWEEN...

As I was getting closer to my cancer 5th anniversary & was asked by a nurse in my doctor's office  how I had felt when I looked back at that first diagnosis.  I told her it was the most peaceful and calm period I could remember. Well...she looked at me with this shocked look like I had lost all my marbles and said  "You do know that makes NO sense, it's just plain crazy" "You Are just crazy...you know that..right?" 

Regardless of all that...it was my truth and just the way it was...and in some convoluted way...the one thing I am looking forward again this time.

As expected...I've started to slow down & spend some quiet time thinking.  It really is the only time allow myself the luxury to just sit, guilt free & let my mind be totally peaceful.  My normal brain, and I use that phrase broadly, never really shuts down...not only is there ALWAYS a song floating around during all conscious moments (sometimes crossing over in my dreams at night too) but I am always feeling guilty about all the things I am not getting done.  I have a MONSTER size expectations for myself so I suffer from the "To Do" list in my mind (and usually written down) being WAYYYYY longer then this old body has the chance of ever getting done in a single day.  I have even tried to just do the top "key" things and leave the rest for tomorrow....ya...that was an epic fail.  All it manages to do is make my next day list twice as long cause by then I have a entire new list already started in my head...so there is no way to ever recover from crushing defeat like that. You have to understand that all this guilt and list nonsense is totally a monster of my own making.  After all the years of illness we have had to deal almost daily, VoR understands and accepts me and my on again off again limitations, much better then I do.  He gets that all hours of each day are definitely NOT created equal, and that it truly is a krap shoot as to how well I am gonna feel on any part of any given day...I, on the other hand, have a hard time grasping the concept that I just can't do it all...when I want, what I want.  Sometimes thinking and believing are just not part of reality and I am obviously a VERY slow learner.

 I am grateful that I am forced to allow myself the chance to sit and just breath. I find I question why everyone is in such a hurry and not present in the moments that are so precious and numbered.  Is all that stuff really important?  Is it vital in the "big picture"? What eternal worth does it have for me? What's important, is what kind of mark we leave on all those around us...how we treated, loved, served & shared a part of who we are with them.

I find myself pulled back from a lot of the usual "stuff" that distracts and stresses me. I spend time watching and feeling, noticing all that goes on around me, to simply reflect on the path I am walking and take the time to really see what changes and corrections I need/want to make now and when this is all over.  No one stands still, so it is definitely a time for me me to see just how much drifting my life has done since the last time I took a minute to check myself.  I love this part of the journey for me...it has become such a precious time for me.  I so profoundly feel the comfort, peace & love of the Saviour encircling me in every waking moment.  I know He is always there offering the same support to me...I just get too busy to notice and that is the biggest tragedy