Nobody ever said...

There are a great many people in history (collective history and my own personal history) who are awe inspiring, maddening, jaw dropping and yes, even hysterically funny and they all have something amazing to say. Something I would have said, if only they hadn't said it first. So, instead of plagiarizing, which is wrong, I quote them....my name is Emily, and I'm a quote-aholic. I woke up thinking quotes this morning, (mostly Martin Luther King Jr. quotes since today is the day that we set aside to honor him) I even posted one as my Facebook status. Then, just as quickly as I did that, I decided to change my status. I asked for prayers and positive thoughts for my friend today as she went through a radical double mastectomy. As I was thinking of her, and pondering the utter unfairness of the situation, another quote popped into my head. In honesty I'm not sure where it originated, my mom used to say it A LOT although I know she didn't come up with it on her own. "Nobody ever said life was going to be fair", and you know what it's not.

As part of my emotional housekeeping, I'm working on moving beyond things, that in the past I've let hold me up. People and events that for one reason or another have caused me stop in my tracks and brood over them. Some have been mild and others have been more major, but in every instance I've given them power that they don't deserve. *I* have given them power that they don't deserve! I may not have had control over them at the time they were happening, but I sure have control over them now. Nobody has had a perfect life, nobody will, nobodies life is ALWAYS fair, but in the end the only one who can cauterize the wound is the person living it. It's all about choices, and from here on out, I'm making the choice to move on. That's not to say that I will always be chipper and nothing will ever bother me again in life, but I'm making the choice to not allow things to hold me back. I will not allow my emotional growth to be stunted one more day waiting for life to be fair again. I'd be waiting for a long time and I'd miss out on so much more than I already have. For every unfairness, there is the other side of that coin that's given me something more than I even knew I wanted.

I participated in the 30 days of Thankfulness challenge on Facebook this year. The 30 days leading up to Thanksgiving, I posted one thing a day that I was thankful for. Some days it was a struggle, and that horrifies me. I've been so blessed beyond anything anyone ever should be, and yet some days I struggled to be truly thankful for what I have, and it's truly because I've allowed myself to wallow in what's not fair instead of focusing on EVERYTHING else. No more, I'm done with that, I will be grateful always for what I have.

Right now, I'm grateful for a fabulous update on my friend, everything was successful, they got all the cancer and it had not spread to her lymph nodes. I am so sorry for her that she and her family have had to endure this, but they are doing just that, they are enduring. I'm not going to harp on the unfairness of this, I will celebrate the good and this is GREAT, praise GOD!

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” -Martin Luther King Jr. When we hold onto the negative this is what happens. I'm pretty sure that the theme of this post is not what Dr. King had in mind when he spoke this, but it fits, and it's inspiring. My choice is to live in the now, not forgetting the people and events that have shaped my life, but letting in the light to drive out the darkness.