I talked to a lovely woman a few days ago and when we parted ways I wondered about something. Sometimes when I share my story I think people think I’m crazy. Seriously. Most of the time I use both my ears, my heart, my compassion to listen to others and once in a while I’ll use my truth and speak. This was one of those days so, when she asked me why I knew so much about women’s abuse issues which was part of the conversation, I told her…The mess: I am an abuse thriver, started when I was 7, the impact remained with me until my forties..the mess: I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when I was forty and had to give up my successful relocation company…the mess, six years later I was told the specialist had made an error in diagnosis and I had never had PD: the mess: I’m 46 and wondering what the hell to do with my life now….the mess: one of my best friends is murdered by her husband just a few hours after, what would be, our last visit together, the mess: I invested in a woman who was running an empowering program for abuse survivors/ she took the money and ran! When I was relating just a little bit of this to her even I took a step back and thought “wow, this is crazy, how can anybody be exposed to so much and still move forward?” Well that’s the message isn’t it…Keep moving forward no matter what, the choice is always there to stop and give up or to keep moving on..sometimes I couldn’t even get myself out of bed but I did get anyway. Sometimes I cried so much I thought I’d never cry again, I was wrong. Sometimes I didn’t want to speak to another person, to listen to yet another story of tragedy, but I did anyway. Here’s what I learned: the heart is a compassionate friend, the heart, my heart, loves me very much and I feel the same way, my life is a gift and I’d bloody well better share that out with everybody who is willing to join in. I didn’t go through all of this just to sit back and ponder….nope I believe I went through all of this so that you, yup you, could fine the courage to move just one little toe toward that first step until eventually you’ve started traveling your own path of passion and truth. So, I’m not crazy that I know, but I sure do prefer to listen to your stories than mine! Living la vida fearless, Jan
