Keeping it all in perspective

Today is not a happy, or even remotely funny post. If you are here for humor, wait until my next post. This morning was horrible. I was trying to assist getting a sick cat into a cage to take it to the vet and was hugely unsuccessful, was two hours late to work, have a sore throat, so I was just in a shitty, shitty mood...until I read one of my blogs. You see, for some reason I like and/or need to be reminded that my problems are not that bad, I have my health, a great family, super husband, fat cat and lots of things to look forward to. I read several blogs about people going through cancer, or some life threatening illness. I get to know these people through their struggles, and begin to have great affection and concern for their family and friends, thus taking the focus off of myself. I am not sure if it is healthy, but it works for me. Anyway, one of my authors, Stephanie Vest, lost her fight with cancer last night. It is a greatly touching story as she had three young children and has been sick since her baby girl was born, therefore she was never able to be a mother to her only daughter. This is such a tragedy, however, I can tell by reading the comments what a great support system her husband will have. Here is her story if you want to take a look. http://rainkitephotography.typepad.com/stephanie_vest/2008/12/index.html

Something else that has been keeping me somewhat grounded is the fact that two of my very good friends lost their baby this Spring. I was so ready to watch them be great parents and am still struggling with the fact that they haven't been given the chance again yet. They allowed many friends, and eventually strangers, into their son's story through a blog, hosted by a company called Caring Bridge. Most blogs are free, yes, but this is set up through hospitals so it is very easy for the families and patients to share their story. If you are needing a charity to support this holiday season, I would greatly recommend donating a small token. Here is the site: https://ssl.charityweb.net/caringbridge/?Split=5

I am writing this mostly to remind myself that you can't make all of life's problems go away, however, if you focus more on compassion, love, assistance and healing, that suddenly your problems aren't in the forefront, and you are able to open up and help others. If you are able to do this effectively, it will create this great circle of positive emotion, and before you know it, someone will come along to help guide you through your struggles, or you may realize suddenly your issue has been resolved because of the focus taken off of it.

Promise to write about funnies later, thanks for listening. Dr. Red is signing off for now.