Outside yourself

Hi friends -- I know I haven't been on here for a couple of days.  Honestly, I just really didn't have anything positive to say.  I was doing so great with my goals for this month, and then all of a sudden the last couple of days I have just fallen flat!  I think perhaps this is my normal kind of let down after the holidays.  I just didn't feel it until now because I have been so busy on the block of the month, and the open house for the store.  Now those things are finished, my son went back to school, my daugther has only a few months left here, and then she'll be going off to college ... then I'm an empty nester!  How did this happen???  My son will come home in May after graduating from college, and he'll live here, so technically we won't be "empty" nesters, but ... I have been a stay-at-home mom for 21 years.  Yes, I have a little part-time job and I dabble in longarm quilting, but my main focus in life has always been my family, my kids ... now that they're growing up, what do I do??  I really have been thinking a lot about stuff the last few days trying to diagnose where these blah feelings have been coming from.  I think this is part of it; I've had a couple of health things too -- no big deal, but combined with everything else, it's just been troubling me.

One of my friends has had cancer for a long time ... 8 years to be exact.  She was in remission for a couple of years, and now it is back ... while I'm whining about my change in life, she is hoping she gets a chance to see her kids finish college.  Today I decided I was going to go to the gym; I felt so much better after that ... my friend has been a little absent lately, and I have been thinking about her constantly, and finally called her today.  I felt so much better after talking to her; she is scared, she hasn't been feeling well, and we all hope that it is something else, not the cancer.  She is having some tests and I think she should know more by the end of the week.

It got me to thinking ... you can always find someone worse off than you are.  It's okay to be sad, and have bad days, but for me, I just have to push myself through sometimes.  I know that I'm a very strong person and if I just keep at it one day at a time, I can figure it all out ... with the help of my family and good friends! =:)  We all need to step outside of our comfort zones, or just our own problems, and reach out to other people.  It makes you appreciate all the blessings you do have in your life.  Hope I'm not too serious for you all, but sometimes life just can't be about quilting and cooking, etc.

If you are suffering your own winter doldrums, or just having a bad day, week, whatever ... step outside yourself and do something for someone else.  I think you'll find you feel a whole lot better! =:-)