Courage

Hello dear reader.

This message literally took my breath away when I saw it. I originally looked at it because I thought it was such a beautiful picture of a lion. Anyway, I had to read what was written there several times before I really grasped it. So go ahead, read it again. Let it truly sink in. I honestly believe that this is the best and most accurate definition of the word Courage I’ve ever seen.

It’s more than a coincidence, in my opinion, that I was discussing this very concept with my therapist just last week. Yes, I go to a therapist. I truly think this world would be a considerably better place to live if everyone did. So I wasn’t saying it nearly as well as this picture does, but I was doing my best to express this sentiment. My example was that so many people are quick to say “I’d die for my (insert children, spouse, best friend, etc. here).” That’s quite a statement of devotion. But the more difficult question, in my opinion, is Would youlive for that person? The way things are right now, dying would be much easier than living is. Every morning when my consciousness returns but before my eyes are open the pain hits me. I reach for the pain meds that are on my nightstand just for this purpose and I take one. I wait about 20 minutes and decide if I should try to get out of bed yet or if I have to take another one. In the meantime my bladder has decided that I need to be in the bathroom NOW! My full bladder begins to yell at my legs, back, neck and head to get over the pain and let’s go. My legs, back, neck and head yell back to my bladder that it needs to quit yelling at them and talk to the blood stream about getting the medications to them. You get the picture. This is the very beginning of my day. It doesn’t get much better from there. It roars during every moment that I’m awake.

Here’s the flip side. I have children and a husband and incredible friends. I love all of them more than words can say. I can’t do much to show them how much I love and appreciate them. Hell, I can’t even keep my house clean. But they are the little voice at the end of the day that drowns out the roaring. I do the only thing I can do to show how powerful my love for them is. I live.

Until next time…

Strangers Among Us

Hello dear reader.

I’ve started working with a program called Net Galley. This cool organization lets me read books before they get published and give my opinion on them. The cool part for you guys is that you get a heads-up on the awesome ones before they hit the shelves.. See, I have to give my opinion, good or bad, to Net Galley. But I will only talk about the good books on here. (Wink)

So here is my first review for you. The book is called Strangers Among Us and is due out in August of this year. It’s a book of short stories by different authors. I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, of course. But I didn’t dislike any of them. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of this book as soon as it becomes available.
The review I wrote for Net Galley goes as follows:

Strangers Among Us is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! Once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop! Most books of short stories have a few good ones, but mostly ones you rush through hoping that the next one will be better. That was not the case with “Strangers Among Us.” Every story stood on its own and was a pleasure to read. Many of the stories had me wondering if my reality is real. Many of the stories gave me hope. All of the stories made me see things in a different light. A truly enjoyable and thought provoking book.

This is something I will be posting on my blog from time to time. Not to worry though, most of my posts will continue to be my usual ravings.

Let me know what you think about this. Would you like to hear about the books that I didn’t like as well as the ones I did? Did you like the post? Did you hate it?

Until next time…..