"I remind myself, while feeling afraid, to love life anyway, to retain the certain knowledge that I will die someday and use that to open to the preciousness of what I see and feel right in front of me. Now I might feel afraid but am determined to have that fear serve as a counterpoint to my tendency to procrastinate. If I have to apologize, tell someone 'I love you', try to make a difference, I need to do it without delay"
- Sharon Saltzberg, meditation teacher


When the obstacle appears be ready for it. Any amount of pain from the OBSTACLE will cause NEGATIVITY. That is a certainty. But what you can do NOW is understand that you can lessen the time it takes to repair by TRAINING YOUR MIND. Understand that your MIND is in charge of everything you do. It creates the THOUGHTS you have, both GOOD and BAD. If I had been aware of the destruction caused by the MIND, or more specifically the WAY THAT I THINK, I would have been in much better shape a lot faster because I would have known HOW TO THINK to feel better. And that's what all of us want to do when we are going through tough times because of LOSS...... we want to feel better.
But there is another reason to make yourself aware of your own THOUGHTS created by your MIND. As I have said soooo often pain and suffering provide life lessons. They are thrown at us to MAKE US LEARN so that it is easier next time.

And so I waited. And I suffered in silence while I tried to pick up the pieces of ME!
As often happens when I talk there were many tears as I finished up. And that's good. It means people are listening to some of the misery I had EXPERIENCED. And if that can help lessen some of the misery for them later, well then, mission accomplished! Oh by the way I almost made it through without tears myself. YEEEHAAAR......... well, as I said, ALMOST. I croaked and quivered as best I could.
So do me a BIIIIIG favor, dot. Keep watching my journey and learn about my pain to lessen yours as you travel along the length of your own LIFE. And look at where you are right now. With the Busyness of life, the work, the kids, the mortgage, the friends, the social life, ask yourself the question:
AM I JUST SURVIVING ?
and if the answer is "YES" there is a very simple solution to your dilemma.....

THINK......