Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
I catch myself playing that soul-stripping game of comparison, and come up feeling dreadfully inadequate. My writing is lacking, my photography sucks, and it’s an embarrassment to self that I even post my art. Not actually – but this is the fallout from comparison. I need to turn this thinking around: I am blessed to […]
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“It’s not easy being green,” Kermit the Frog sings. I suppose not if you are green with envy. “I have to smoke,” my father would say. “I’m too green to burn.” I am in love with the multi shades of green that mark our Spring season here in Ontario, so I have decided to make […]
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Some things are put in our path to battle, some to test our faith, and some to teach us acceptance. I wrote this while waiting to see the specialist, not knowing the outcome. Seems my lesson, this time, was as Jazz noted in the comments this week, was endurance. Happily, I made it. Inspired by […]
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“The doctor was adamant that it’s cancer, and I’ve researched it. If it is, it’s not good.” Weeks of repressed fear gush forward, and I find myself crying, mid restaurant, my husband seated across from me. “We just don’t know yet.” he responds softly, taking my hand. “We’ll deal it with one step at a […]
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The first time Ric cooked dinner for me, he pulled out a tall, slender stainless steel pot with a glass lid and a basket inside. I’d never seen anything like it. “What is that?” “An asparagus pot!” I haven’t stopped teasing him about it, being the pragmatic woman that I am. I would soon discover […]
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Our next door neighbour confides that he has two weeks to a month to a live. “You’ll be seeing lots of my daughter around,” he says with his customary big grin. I take his frail hand in mine and offer condolences. “I’m not afraid of dying; it’s what happens leading up to that moment that […]
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“Compassion becomes real when we recognizeour shared humanity.” – Pema Chödrön. As a young woman, I braced myself against the world by adhering to black and whites – a judgmental stance that was not conducive to relationship building. More self-protective than self-righteous, this attitude only served as a wall, confining me to loneliness. Then in […]
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“I’m going no matter what!” Two nights of no sleep has made me even more determined to live life, so I shower, fuss with my hair, and even put on makeup. Clothes are not comfortable right now, so I choose a skirt made from cotton t-shirt material and dress it up with a blouse, and […]
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I just want to sleep. Situational, my therapist calls this type of depression. Saw my family doctor this week, and she confirmed that the skin condition could be cancer. At best, it is a rare condition that will need specialist care. It is both itchy and painful, but there can be no treatment until the […]
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“Shouldn’t be long,” I tell Ric before passing through into the rows of examining rooms. The receptionist who called yesterday, saying there was a cancellation, suggested this was just a consult and preliminary examination. My health has been declining since long before we returned home. The thing about having a chronic illness is that it […]
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One Woman's Quest II 