To React, or To Transform?

        Sometimes when I begin the process of finding the inspirations for these posts, it works for me to go randomly searching for a quote which stands out to me, and I let it grow from there.  But this time, I found myself actually looking for a quote that went with what I was experiencing and how I was feeling.  So now you get to find out what I've found, and a bit more about it.

As my sufferings mounted I soon realized

that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation --

either to react with bitterness

or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. 

I decided to follow the latter course.

~ Martin Luther King Jr

        I tend to be a fairly positive type of person.  You might have noticed.  I remember telling someone years ago about my "incurable optimism"; a description I made up as I tried to explain it in my then-depressed frustration.  I was actually angry at myself because even though I wanted to give up, I just couldn't, which was confusing and annoying at the time.  It seems, given I'm still here, composing this post and doing other, misc stuff here and there, my optimism has not been cured!  And I have done everything in my power to help others find light in their lives, when they have needed that kind of support, even when they've never met me in person!

        So why does this quote apply this week, to me?  Well, mostly just because I've just spent about 3 weeks in diagnostic procedures, this past week hopefully doing the last of them before I can be successfully diagnosed and things can move forward, at least at this point in the chaos, even though I'm not happy about the likely possibilities.  In about a year I'll be up on the wait list for some genetic testing to see if all my body's symptoms fit into a general diagnosis, which would be helpful.  It may not help with much except to give me some sense of understanding (my own and my doctors'), and empowerment over my life, rather than this feeling of overwhelming blow after blow, unexpected and unpredictable.  Sometimes it feels like I'm actually that giraffe in the quicksand*, feeling myself sinking and trying to figure out what to do in the meantime, before it's too late! 

        I'll admit it; there are days when the most positive I feel is what I find to share on the PB Facebook Community Page.  No doubt there are those who notice those days (lol), but that only serves to make it clear that I'm not some guru to follow if you're looking for someone who has all the answers.  I've said before that I've at times felt like a lying hypocrite, here, feeling so black and yet trying to help others keep moving when I, myself, think I'm full of it for doing it!  I am someone who is trying to find the answers, and who has some answers already, which I am happy to share.  And I think that is the point in the quote.

        You have it within you, just as I have it within me, to use creative measures to have our sufferings make a positive impact on the world.  It does take thinking about things in a different way, and it does take a fair amount of courage and work, but I do that every time I post here, or share a comment, or make a poster.  It is my way of using what I have to seek to transform the suffering into a creative force.  

You might have a different way of doing it.
You might become a professional counselor, or a teacher, or run a local soup kitchen.
Or, you might run an after school program organizing children to help others somehow.
Or you might organize a service project.
Or... or ... or ...
Your possibilities are as limitless as you allow them to be!

        Not everyone is going to like what you have to offer, in the way you have to offer it.  However, I'm pretty sure that if I had the stats from the very beginning, we've probably lost more followers on the FB Page than we currently have.  I'm actually, rather grateful that I don't have those stats, because it's unnerving enough to see when I've gained 2 one day, and am 3 behind, the next!  But that, my friends, is why I've made it the point from the very beginning, not to be about the stats!  

        I was totally freaked out when I saw that 49 people I knew actually started "pity" following the Page, in the beginning, and that 50th was actually someone I've never met!  Talk about nerves!  I'd been inspired to begin by a quote I read about scaring yourself out of your comfort zone once a week to live a more on-purpose and fulfilling life...but I was scaring myself out of my comfort zone, almost every day!  I still do!  And if you're reaching out of your comfort zone to do something you dream of doing, then you're going to be scaring yourself, too!  

        But remember: this is a good thing.  This kind of fear is conquered by goals and choices to not be afraid of them.  You keep going, and you keep doing, and the people who appreciate you are going to be the ones still cheering you on, because any haters will eventually get bored and move on to more likely, unfortunate targets.  I honestly had no idea this was possible, for me in particular, and yet, here we are, 2 years later (this month), still going, and still growing!  And I cannot express how grateful I am that you have chosen to walk with me, a while!

        Thank you, for reading this, and for participating in comments here, or on the Facebook or Pinterest places.  I look forward to what creative directions are ahead, and I hope you'll join with me in exploring those, too!  It's so much better when friends come along! :)

        Better days ahead, my friends!

(*Note: pardon the nearly-non-family-friendly language in the video.  Demonstrates the point, though.)