Just Keep Swimming...Just Keep Swimming...

This blog has been taking up a LOT of my brain space lately.  Which is not a bad thing, just an exhausting thing! As a writer, it’s always thrilling to start a new project, to think of new ideas and try to organize them into something brilliant, witty, interesting, etc….thrilling, but not easy!  Anyhow, my mind keeps struggling with the idea that maybe this blog won’t work.  Maybe people don’t need to hear my uplifting stories and advice…or maybe they don’t want to hear them.  I’ve been thinking about my life these past 5 or 6 weeks, and I have to admit that it’s a pretty happy life.  I don’t have many complaints, and to some of you who are reading this, that statement may be irritating.  Why would I want to hear about someone’s happy life if mine was falling apart?

Well, I got a stark reminder this week of what my purpose is in doing this blog.  Just as I was feeling “guilty” (for lack of a better word) for having so many things going great in our life right now, we were struck down.  This past week, we were called with the news that my mother-in-law has cancer. 

And that was it, no words.  Nothing to comfort my husband--my poor, poor husband.  Nothing to make the situation better, to change the bad news into good.  We can’t---it’s just bad news, plain and simple.  Someone that we love very much is very sick.  And the next thing I thought was, “how can I write about looking for the good now? This is so terrible, this is not good.”

But that is the point.  This life is not easy, and our days are not all good.  In fact, a lot of them are bad.  But that’s why we need a little reminder every day to seek out that good, to not give up on happiness.  And that was why I wanted to write the blog—I suddenly became my own audience. 

And so today, I’m asking you to remember your goals.  No matter what they are, no matter how big or small they might seem to you, they are yours, and you set them for a reason.  I was reminded that life goes in stages, or waves, of emotion.  Sometimes things go really well---you get the job you’ve been waiting for, your kids behave well, you finish a task you’ve been struggling with.  But other times (or should I say often times?) things don’t go so well---someone else gets the job, your kids drive you crazy, and the tasks keep piling up, both literally and figuratively speaking.

No matter what stage you are in, and no matter which direction you are going, we could all use a little ray of sunshine in our day, and I hope that’s what “The Good” blog does for you.  This week we got terrible news—news that we are still digesting at the moment, still crying about and wondering about—but we can make it through.  She can make it through.  With our loved ones, and with their prayers, anything is possible.  Don’t ever give up on your goals.

*In case the title of this post doesn't make any sense to you, it is in reference to Dory, one of the characters from the movie Finding Nemo.  Whenever she gets upset or frustrated, she starts singing "just keep swimming, just keep swimming".  I hope that Dory's words come to mind whenever you are having a hard day, whenever you feel like you just can't "swim" anymore.  Just keep swimming!

*This one's for you, Debbie.  Just keep swimming.