In the last couple of months, which have been a pretty hairy time for me and my family, because our son’s epileptic seizures had been out of control, I would notice my knee-jerk response to anyone who asked me, “Hi. How are you today?”
“Fine, thank you. How are you?” or even sometimes, “Great! How’s your day going?” were my pat responses, and always said in overly chirpy and in overly zealous, zippy tones. The worst I ever said was, “Pretty good.”
Now, of course, this is what we all do. The clerk at my grocery store does not honestly want a play-by-play of my sh*tshow of a day/week/month/year, and I don’t want to have an emotional collapse, in public, while purchasing some milk, bread and broccoli, in front of a bunch of hungry strangers. But still, at those times, I was honestly feeling really rotten. For the first time in a long time, I noticed my answers to those socially polite questions, and I noticed how false my fake answers rang out to me. I was lying through my teeth. Yet, just like Think Smarter states above, maybe my answers held some truth. “Fake it, ’til you make it.” Who knows how things in our lives on Earth are going to turn out, until the very end? And even then, the collective belief seems to be that after our lives on Earth, most (if not all) of us will all transition to an even better place. How many terrible, rotten, no-good experiences, in retrospect, after bringing you to your knees, brought you to new heights in your life, in ways that you could never have imagined? We all have had our rising-from-the-ashes Phoenix moments, oftentimes more than once.
So, with that in mind, how are things for you?
“It’s all good,” at my corner of the Earth. “It’s all good.”
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
Hey, thanks for asking (and really wanting to know what’s up.)
Things are transitional in my world.
On the one hand, we have the divorce, which was coasting along toward the finish line with very few problems until we divided the cash. Now the ex has adopted the attitude that he no longer has to honor our agreements because he’s gotten his share and all bets are off. That is problematic and leaves me with the option of having to play a card that I didn’t want to play. So that’s kind of a bummer.
On the other hand, however, things are really starting to move forward with my writing career. I have a book LIVE on Amazon, and another coming out in December! I’m getting my website professionally updated, getting professional headshots taken, working on social media (which I’ve basically avoided like the plague for years). I am on my way to becoming a “brand”. Still not making any significant money, but I truly believe that’s about to change.
I’ve discovered that I’m very happy living by myself (for now) and every day I am grateful for the new freedom I’ve found to be who I am and pursue the work I love. It’s taken a long, painful, lesson-filled journey to get here, but I couldn’t do what I do without all those lessons, so ultimately I’m thankful for all the experiences of my life. Even if Thanksgiving wasn’t just around the corner I’d still be counting my blessings!
Whether it’s “all good” or “gone to hell” there are nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned from each experience. Trust Source; keep the faith. You are loved and appreciated, and your work matters. Just by being YOU, you affect the lives of your family, your readers, and everyone that you silently support (I’m thinking local shopkeepers and Etsy creators and your mentees, just to name a few!) You just keep doing what you do, Kelly, because ultimately it will lead you to the place you need to be.
Thank you for this wonderful update, Kelly. I am always inspired by your attitude, strength and vision. Please send us a link to your book and to your website! Congratulations!!!!!!!! Onwards and upwards!