Friday, July 22, 2011

A Year Later - Almost!

It's been almost another YEAR since I have updated this blog! I don't know why I have not done so in the past 11 months - why I've gotten SO out of the habit of updating this thing that I go months or close to a year without doing it.. just living life, I guess - and being busy and not thinking about it much! I am going to try to make a REAL effort from now on to update this thing weekly - part of my promise to myself to actually WRITE again, and what better way to start than by doing this blog regularly?

I have been thinking a LOT lately about my life. I just passed the one-year anniversary of my last surgery on July 2. Hard to believe it's been over a year now. I am doing well and have gotten back to my normal life with work, all my activities, and getting TOO busy again! But it's great.. it means my life has returned to normal, which is what I wanted for such a long time. I can remember many days lying in my room after my 2009 surgery, knowing that there was still something that wasn't right, knowing that I was facing another surgery STILL, even after having FOUR of them, and wishing that I could have the ONE thing I seemed not to be able to achieve - to get my LIFE back and be without health issues - and at this moment in time, that is exactly what I am - free of it all. I may have other problems at some point, but right now I am doing well - the best gift I could have ever asked God to bestow upon me!

God has blessed me with so many wonderful things - and I don't mean material things - I mean the things that REALLY count - I have wonderful family, an awesome husband who has stuck by me through every unpleasant thing I've been through with all my difficulties and has NEVER once complained - AND tons of fantastic friends! My Girls Night Out group has grown in the past year to a size that I never could have imagined - and I have met so many wonderful ladies that have become wonderful friends, that I feel blessed over and over again. I have some of the best friends in the world - friends that I can just be myself with. That's one thing I've learned a lot about in the past year or two - that there is a HUGE difference between people you KNOW and people who are your friends.

Your friends are there for you when you need them and you don't even have to ask.. they are just THERE. You can be YOU with them, you don't have to pretend, you don't have to hide your feelings. You can say what you want and they understand. That's something that's been a real eye-opener for me. I've KNOWN lots of people over the years and some I thought were friends.. but when a person won't even let you speak your mind and say what is on it and tell them what you think without punishing you in some way for it, crawling down your throat or making you feel like somehow you are wrong, that person is NOT your friend.

I've been disappointed many times in my life, hurt by people that I thought were friends - and that never feels good. But it's also taught me SO much - and it's taught me what friendship really is. and what it is NOT. And I've also come to learn that without the pain of being hurt we also wouldn't appreciate the joys that we experience in this life nearly as much, would we? When I think about people who have treated me badly, not been understanding about something I was dealing with, and those who actually deserted me when I was sick and recuperating and never once inquired about me - people I thought were my friends - instead now of licking my wounds, like I've done in the past, I smile at the thought that for every person like THAT that has hurt me, God has brought into my life another who has loved and appreciated me for ME. And THAT is a blessed gift!

Some people are going to disappoint you. That's a cold, hard reality of life that we can't escape until the day we die. BUT there are so many wonderful, good people and wonderful, good things in life, they more than make up for those that hurt. Over time, I've learned that sometimes you just have to shake the dust off and move on - accept the fact that sometimes people are just jerks. But there are so many good people out there - focus on that!

ENOUGH with that though! Life has been treating me quite well, really - and I've kept busy - I have dropped a number of things in my life that were becoming toxic and not really good for me - and have replaced those activities with new things that have brought me much pleasure and joy. My Girls Night Out group is 9 and a half years old now - so hard to believe! Coming up in just a few months on our 10th birthday - and it's such a special thing in my life.. Who would have thought when I started this almost ten years ago that it would grow into what it has? Not just the NUMBER of people that are part of it now but the people themselves - awesome friends! I'm also looking forward to starting a new book club with a few friends and have resumed doing some volunteer work with local theaters, as well as my usual volunteer activities with Palmetto Health Foundation and a couple other things that keep me busy.

I have become a "professional networker" in a manner of speaking - all these networking groups have kept me busy and I've made the best friends in them. One of the best things about GNO and the networking groups is that they are filled with women who aren't interested in pettiness, drama and all the nonsense that some women like to get caught up in - but instead, they are interested in helping and supporting one another! After all, isn't that what we SHOULD be doing?

It's hot as HELL right now - over 100 degrees for about 3 days in a row - too hot to want to do much of anything - so as we speak, I am sitting here typing away and updating this blog rather than going out on a Friday night! But that's okay too - sometimes you just have to say "forget it" and stay home on a Friday night and refresh yourself and rejuvenate.

My husband of over 14 years, Dennis, the love of my life and my best friend, just turned 50 recently. 50 is a milestone. I've teased him a lot about it and he has accepted the teasing good-naturedly..but he is what keeps me grounded so much of the time and makes me stop and think. Sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees, and he helps me remember to look for that. Sometimes I get all caught up in something that I think is SO important, and he reminds me that it really isn't. Thank God in every relationship, there's always somebody who's level-headed - in our marriage, I'm the hotheaded one and he's the level-headed one. I'm definitely the emotional one and Dennis is the logical one. it works well for us!

I PROMISE I will get back to writing and posting on this blog and will try to be sure to do so weekly. And maybe post some more updated pictures when I have them.