Stand up and dance.

[Markw]

For the longest time one of my main theme songs has been Stand by Rascal Flatts (   ).  Just re-watched Bob's video about dancing with the pain and hardship that life sometimes throws at us (one day I will tell my story...but suffice to say I have had my fair share of both).

This got me to thinking and I have decided that my new motto is 'Stand Up And Dance!'.

No matter what life throws at you, no matter how impossible it seems to pull yourself back up from the ashes, tell life that it can't have yours and start to move forward again...just remember that one day, however long ago it was, you stood up and told society that you refused to live by its rules anymore.  You bought a van, an rv, a trailer or simply got in your car and left your old life behind.  In effect, you rose from the ashes of your old self, stood up and said "ENOUGH".  You've already done it once, nothing says you can't do it again.

While I have yet to hit the road, my drive to do so has become pretty strong...regardless of how often life is throwing one obstacle after another at me (remember that truck I bought? Yeah...head gasket blew, shortly after that I lost my job...and (yes this is my fault, I know that) I don't have any savings so it's kind of been sitting for the last year or so...also lost my apartment since I have no money for rent.  Luckily a friend is letting me stay in their empty house till I can get back on my feet).  So yeah, I know what it is like to take hit after hit from life...but, I have started over before (quite a few times, actually) and will do so this time.

Not sure why I posted all that, but maybe there is someone out there who needs to read it.

 

[Annie W]

Mark said "also lost my apartment since I have no money for rent.  Luckily a friend is letting me stay in their empty house till I can get back on my feet.  
So yeah, I know what it is like to take hit after hit from life...but, I have started over before (quite a few times, actually) and will do so this time."

Praise ! God for your friends & their kindnesses... Too Praise ! God for your positive attitude, & determination to live your life joyfully.

So to get back on your feet, how specifically are you doing this ? - Can you share so others reading this can also benefit...

 

[Markw]

I dunno...I have just always seemed to have something inside me that flat out refuses to accept failure, refuses to give up and kicks me in the butt when I try to.  Usually when life hits me hard I go through a sort of process.  First, I sort of sigh inwardly, shake my head and tell myself 'well, here we go -again-'.  Then I look at all the ways things can go even more downhill and reject them.  Usually at that point I end up taking a few months to gather myself together and take stock of where I am...after that I stand up and start climbing out of the hole again.

I just have never been one to let life defeat my inner spirit, never let it get me so far gone that I can't come back.  Do I get fearful? Of course I do.  Do I get depressed? Pretty much have been to one degree or another my whole life (again, one day I will tell my story and that statement will make more sense).  Do I sometimes sit and wonder 'what the hell am I going to do now?' That's kind of part of the process.  Have I been semi-suicidal at times? Yep, been there, too (although that's when that something inside me starts kicking me in the butt and telling me to stop accepting failure).

It's not that I feel like I am anything special...I just look defeat in the eye, give it the middle finger and move on.

At this point I have been out of work since September, which is not unusual when life punches me in the stomach from out of left field.  However, I feel like in the next week or so I will start working on getting myself together, get a new job and go back to making plans for my life.

Heh...there is a saying that a friend I knew years ago used to say all the time.  'Life...it's what happens when you are busy making other plans'.

Some can crawl back time after time as I have, some can't.  I believe that everyone has there own way they have to go about it, specific to them.  The trick is to not listen to the negative, give yourself permission to listen to the positive and be willing to accept that sometimes crap happens and how you deal with it will determine where you go from here.

Having worked in a homeless shelter for six years, I can tell you one thing, though...there is never a point where you get so low that there is no way you can come back from it.  You just have to be willing to accept that the life you had before things went bad is in the past and it's time to make a new one.  I suppose that is what is meant by 'You can't go home again'...because 'home' has moved on without you and it won't be the same as when you left it.