What you have left

"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts - it's what you do with what you have left." ~Hubert Humphrey

 On paper I appear to have nothing. Our finances have been cut in half since the layoffs, every bill is late, and I actually had to hold off on important testing for my health because the copay is too high. I am like many others who have been hit by this economic crisis. I don't know and have no way of knowing how long we will have to "ride this out". Yes, on paper my life sucks. Our truck broke down, there are no interviews to the 500 applications that have been put in, and Christmas....well it will be one of those "this is what is really important holiday seasons for us". It will not have tvs and video games. It will not have a tree filled with countless toys to open. It will "that" year for us.
This is on paper. You would think I would be a depressed train wreck right??! I mean all this on the back of a year long cancer battle myself....
I think if it wasn't for the horrible ugly beast cancer coming into my life I wouldn't be able to tell you this.......
None of what I just told you matters! My husband used to go to work at 5am and we would not see him again until somewhere between 5pm and 1am (for ot). He now picks up kids from school, has had a few lunches with my son, and sits at every football practice! Yes every bill is late and I get calls daily for money but we have learned to live much simpler. Christmas will not be filled with tons of presents but we will make sure somehow our children will remember it forever. We are blessed to have this experience and when we come out on the other side the things we gained will make us stronger people. Life may go back to "normal" eventually, but we won't!
When people ask how I am I think they expect a big sad answer and I just don't have that. It is not comfortable by any means in my life right now but being uncomfortable for a while makes you grow right. Think about exercise....I am training for a triathlon right now and my life really is a lot like swimming. If you stop swimming you will drown. Keep moving and slow or fast you will get to the end! That is what we have to do right now too! Keep pushing and this too will pass!!! On my cancer journey I wrote my favorite quote..."keep moving forward" and the same is still true even now.
Today I just wanted to point out as we go through our hustle and bustle of life that life has its ups and downs and how we choose to deal with that makes us who we are! Don't dwell on what you have lost or you won't be able to see what great things you still have left!