Happy Monday,
How is everyone doing this fine Monday afternoon? I sure hope you had a wonderful weekend. Drop me a comment here and let me know, I would love to hear from you. If you feel so inclined, please give me a thumbs up too, that is, if you like the blog.
I’m excited to get this blog up and running, all while keeping my other blog growing too. I love writing and interacting with people and it’s my desire to bring something positive to the lives of my readers and if I can help just one person, then that’s the icing on the cupcake.
I just got back from the grocery store and had to share an experience I had with you all. While unloading my cart, this woman, maybe in her 30’s said she liked the plant I had in my cart. I was buying a little extra something today besides groceries. A bamboo plant in a planter that is in the shape of an owl. Martin’s mom got me hooked on the lucky bamboo’s and I have about 5-6 now, and I’m able to keep them alive, imagine that. Anyway, enough about my lucky bamboo.
This young woman after we talked for a second about the plant just blurted out, “I lost my mom two weeks ago and I’m barely able to get through a day without breaking down.” I told her that’s okay, there is no time limit on how long she has to grieve. She chocked back a tear. She said her husband told her to take a week off, so she did last week, but she was finding it so hard to work (she does insta cart), but they need her income, so she doesn’t have a choice. She then went onto tell me how she lost her dad in November and now her mom two weeks ago. I didn’t have much to say to her, not because I can’t relate, because I most certainly can, but she didn’t need me to talk, she needed me to listen and give her permission to just talk about her mom, so I gladly accepted her request, a request that came in the form of just pouring out her heart to a complete stranger. She thanked me and I told her that I hoped she would see a sign that her mom was with her, perhaps a butterfly. As a tear rolled down her cheek, she said, gardening was something her and her mom shared together and they would spend hours talking and gardening and just yesterday, she had gone out to her garden and there were lots of butterflies around this one plant and a few hummingbirds. She said she never thought that that could be her mom, but she smiled and said, “now it makes sense, I felt peace and calm just watching these tiny little birds and butterflies, it must have been mom showing off the garden to her new friends.”
I hope just being able to talk to a stranger made her feel better. I felt good when I left the store knowing I was able to do something nice for someone, though it wasn’t much. When I got home and sat down after having my shake, I came across this quote, and it made me think of life and where I’ve been and where I’m headed. While my path isn’t set in stone, I feel like I’m going down the trail that the Universe has intended for me. For example, the number 7 is always associated with God and on my podcast, I hit a seventh listener. I got seven likes when I checked on my last blog and seven is not only Martin’s favorite number, but mine and I’m one of seven children.
I was raised in a cult and had much of my life laid out for me. I wasn’t allowed to think for myself and when I was married, I had rules I had to follow that were laid out by my husband, so when I came across this quote, it made me smile because it reminds me of how to treat others. “May you never be the reason why someone who loves to sing, doesn’t anymore. Or why someone who dressed so differently now wears standard clothing. Or why someone who always spoke of their dreams so wildly is now silent about them. May you never be the reason for someone giving up on part of them because you were demotivating, non-appreciative, or even worst, sarcastic about it.”- @MasteringLawof Attraction.
While in the cult my conversation with the young lady today may have played out so differently. I most likely would have shared a scripture with her telling her about this resurrection and how not to be sad, but instead, she should look forward to seeing her dead loved one again. Looking back, I can certainly tell you, while the intent was heartfelt, it was cruel. I learned that when someone told me after I lost my daddy, “at least you know he’ll be resurrected, and you will get to see him again.” I didn’t want to hear that. Even if it were true, most of us who lose a loved one, morn because we lost them and we want them here with us. The pain isn’t any less with this false hope of a resurrection.
I learned so much after leaving the cult. I learned to let people grieve and to let them know it’s okay to have good days and bad days, and to simply listen. I hated losing my dad and being told to return to a cult that offered me a false hope of seeing him again. Don’t get me wrong, I do think I’ll see him again, but it will be after I pass on from this life.
I allowed my ex-husband to stomp my dreams into mere ash. When I told him my dream to write a book, he told me it would never get published. Now I have two blogs and I recently completed my first novel and once it’s done in editing, I hope to have it published. I used to sing, but not anymore. He told me he hated the way I sang, so I am now self-conscious about my voice. I lived a life under complete sarcasm. Nothing I did was ever good enough and one day I’ll write about how I felt I needed to be perfect and what it felt like striving to reach the top of this mountain I created for myself to only fall flat on my face and lose everything.
I’m not complaining about how my life went, I’m actually grateful, because now that I’m awake to false teachings and how it’s not okay to let others treat you like you don’t matter or that they are better then you, I think I’m learning to have more compassion for others and I can allow my guard down and just listen to someone who approaches me while in line at the grocery store. I hope I made her feel a little better, because she made me feel good about being in the right place at the right time. I feel good that the Universe gave her the confidence to open up to me and share a piece of her hurt with me. I’m honored she shared her pain with me, and I hope she can heal to the point of being able to think of her mom and find peace and a little less tearful moment.
May none of us be the reason someone stops singing, stops being comfortable in their clothes or worse yet, stops dreaming. Instead, may we be the reason others walk away with a smile, or feel it’s okay to shed a tear or two because they lost their mom, and they think they need to be strong for complete strangers. May we be the reason someone pursues their dreams, and may we be the reason someone smiles today.
Life is short and it’s a gift. I’ll be turning fifty-four on Friday and you know what, I don’t feel embarrassed about my age, because I know there are many people before me that never reached this age and there are many people after me that won’t celebrate their next birthday, so I’m grateful that I get to have one more birthday and I get more time here on this planet to enjoy my sons and Martin too. I’m even more humbled with the opportunity to have a podcast and the ability to talk to people about my faith, their faith and being open to sharing beliefs about God.
I hope you all enjoyed reading the blog today and please, leave me a comment, it really helps me know if I’m writing things that my readers enjoy. I hope this is the best day for you and don’t forget, listen, open your hearts and evolve today. Until next time, have the greatest of days.
Another great blog to check out is:
Have you evolved today? 