Life' Curves in the road

November 18th I was on a coaching chat with one of my amazing clients and as she wrote back a chat to me nothing she wrote to me made any sense... I told my husband that I didn't understand what was she had written and he said, "just tell her that you're having some confusion, as happens every once in a while from my TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), or so I thought, and that you'll have to talk to her later.". I told him he didn't understand... I told him I couldn't write her back. I didn't know why, I just couldn't. Usually when this happens, if I do something, like coloring, or doodling, to get the right side of my brain active, things in my brain seem to work themselves out and the confusion subsides and within a few minutes to an hour I'm okay again, but this time was different. I couldn't color, I got sick to my stomach and within just a few minutes I realized I couldn't talk. Before I knew it my husband was rushing me to the hospital, it was all a blur and come to find out I had a TIA, or a Transient Ischemic Attack, also known as a mini stroke. My symptoms lasted for about 3 hours but seemed like about 30 minutes to me. 

This mini stroke was a big wake up call for me... My perspective on life changed and the things that I was putting emphasis on changed as well. There were things in my life that I had started that I hadn't finished and things I hadn't done that I wanted to do. I was also warned that this could be a precursor to a major stroke and that scared me as well. One of the projects that I had started before I had suffered my TBI and lost my memory is I had started to make a pieced queen sized quilt for my mom. When I found it after I lost my memory, I was amazed that I had done it. I had hand quilted 4 of the 25 12X12 pieces that still needed to hand quilted and I still needed to bind it. With Google's help, I relearned how to quilt and I just finished it a few days ago. Here are some pics of it...

I have spent the last 3 weeks undergoing several tests and the tests will continue this week... Nothing has been found yet but as I met with a neurologist last week he suspended my driving privileges. That was a real kick in the pants for me. That was taking away one of the things that was a big independence thing for me. I have a hard time relying on others for help and like to take care of things by myself. So there was a lesson for me to learn here. 

You see, there is not one day that goes by where I don’t go somewhere in the car. Our daughter Savannah has been having seizures for the past couple of months and I usually have to go to her school every day to pick her up because of the seizures and then there are the weekly errands that have to be run, and the doctor appointments, and now with the holidays, there is Christmas shopping and it’s just a busy time of the year.

I knew not being able to drive  was going to put a lot of pressure on my husband and it was going to cause him to have to leave work on a daily basis to pick Savannah up and that he would have to take time out of his busy schedule to do the things that I normally do and initially that was really stressing me out…

The night that my license had been taken away, after everyone had gone to bed I sat there in the dark with the Christmas tree lit and thought “Why am I not crying about all that has been thrown at me?” Savannah’s seizures, the mini-stroke, the doctor's not being able to find any answers for me, now my license being taken away from me… And then it came to me. The answer was simple. I had made the decision several months ago to choose JOY. Because I had made that decision, nothing that was put in my path was going to get me down.

Although I may have frustration about all these things there is a bright side to everything…

• Savannah’s seizures are psychogenic and are treated with ART Therapy and right brain therapy, which is something I've been studying for a long time now and I teach to my clients… I know how to help her and I know how to train those who work with her. That has been a blessing.
• When it comes to weekly errands, it just forces me to be more organized and to think through things a little more so that Steven can make one trip instead of several small trips to get things done…
• As for Christmas shopping, I’ve found some great deals online, and I don’t have to go out and fight the crowds and I can even save money in gas.
• I now have more quality time at home to focus on what really matters...

Those are just a few ways that I’ve chosen to look on the bright side of life with the circumstances that have been thrown my way.

How have you chosen to look at life? Is it going to be a win-win situation and can you look at things with a JOYfilled attitude?

Are you doing things in your life that make a difference and are you prepared if something traumatic happens? I know that I want to be prepared.!

Love and hugs to all!

Cathleen