Well our family’s world has started revolving again… apologies for the radio silence. Thought it was a good time to share some deep thoughts in a personal moment of vulnerability (doesn’t happen often so enjoy :)).
Last Thursday it felt like our world came to screeching halt as Kel suddenly faced a serious illness resulting in a 911 call, a few very scary days in emerg, lots of uncertainty, complete loss of control, and full reliance on medical professionals. The great news is that he’s on the road to full recovery and improving every day. We and our beautiful kids are incredibly grateful and relieved. We are so very thankful for our amazing local doctors, nurses and health system. And we are also currently in love with antibiotics lol.
It’s crazy how you think you have great perspective… until something like this happens and suddenly “perspective” slams you in the gut, knocks you off your feet, and becomes harshly real.
None of this is new… but it all is beyond REAL to me today and I wanted to share it with you:
Sometimes the hardest times are also the richest. We experienced incredible depth of support from our parents, close family members, and a few amazing friends. We are beyond grateful and treasure the increased trust and richer love after sharing this tough experience together. This was a great reminder of how critical it is build your support network and invest in real relationships NOW. Know who will be there when you need help.
Life is fragile. We know that but it smacked me in the face this past week. Hug closely those you love more often, take time to spend with them, and be vulnerable with those you trust to build deep and true relationships. Crazy how quickly everything else fades away and doesn’t matter a hill of beans in times of crisis. Love deeply and find love. I am more thankful for Kel than ever, and he’s currently being mauled by me on an hourly basis ;).
Be grateful for physical health. Seeing sudden illness and severe pain in someone you love truly rocks your world. I’m grateful for my healthy body, my ability to move well and without pain, my healthy appetite. I find myself breathing deeply often to just enjoy oxygen. I’ve also been letting myself feel my emotions deeply even if it means losing control once in awhile (okay often) and sobbing on a shoulder.
Enjoy the simple things. What a learning to see what things stick as purely essential and what falls away. This is one way to figure this out rapidly!! Through this tough experience, we very quickly knew who is absolutely essential in our life, where there are gaps we need to work on…and surprising things like how big of a role our dogs play in our lives and how important homemade soup is :). And I’m currently very grateful for hand sanitizer and have been showering with it (kidding… kinda).
We’ll all face hard times and once in awhile the rug gets pulled out from under out feet, but these can also become the richest, deepest experiences in life.
Huge thank you to Mitch & Karen first for their incredible friendship but also for holding down the fort at Forge lately and also to our amazing coaching team for helping out.
Beyond grateful.
Michelle