A Brighter Path

Today the melancholy is gone and replaced with renewed hope for a brighter future.  I've never been one to dwell on disappointments, that only leads to me trying to find relief in the refrigerator, and my waistline cannot handle anymore of that.  So the right thing to do is find a way down a new path.

My new path has found me on WIKINUT.  So far the journey has rewarded me with connecting with old YCN friends and renewed awareness of my writing.  I've published my first piece with WIKINUT.

This poem is the story of Sassy Cat who was an abandoned cat and who somehow has wormed her way into our home and into our hearts.

http://nut.bz/1s3us4h3/

Please read and let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

A Better Time

It's been over a year since my last posting, but what a year it has been.  I got married and started a new job.  My son's girlfriend moved in.  Another grandchild has been born.  Our cat family grew two new members, and Sassy Cat is now an indoor cat and loving it as you can tell in the picture.

My life has really changed.  It's what I had wanted - needed, but was afraid of.

Life is always changing.  It's always moving, and you have to move with it or get run over.  Life is funny like that sometimes.  I've heard people say "God doesn't give us more than we can handle."  Well, I think God has a wicked sense of humor.  I'm the clown juggler at the circus with all these balls in the air, and the fates decide to throw me another and another and another.  "Ha!  Let's see how she handles that!"

Yes, life is funny.  Just when you think that you've got it all figured out, a knuckle ball comes out of nowhere to bowl you over.  But it's how you handle these problems that make you who you are.  Well, I am still standing, and I am still here.

What if?

Sassy Cat used to be fearless.  She used to stand up to dogs and if a cat got too close, a well aimed swipe of her paw usually took care of ‘em.  About two weeks ago something happened though.  I don’t know what.  I just know that it happened at night and that the Sassy Cat I knew and admired was no more.  She is now afraid…of everything.

Fear is a disease.  It can cripple lives and stunt growth of happy personalities.  If left uncheck, well, it’s not pretty.  It is the reason we stay in relationships we know are doomed.  We are afraid to leave.  We are afraid to try something new.  We can’t quit our hated jobs because we are afraid to look for something else.  We are afraid we won’t find something else.  We don’t move to a new place because we are afraid.  We are afraid of the unknown and of change.

Yet, change is inevitable and unavoidable.  We must be able to grow with change and adapt or we fail to thrive.  We have to accept that we will make mistakes, but we learn from mistakes and grow wiser…more savvy.  I am working with Sassy everyday to restore her sense of balance in the world, but it will be tough.  For me, the biggest fear is the “what if” syndrome.  I don’t have fear of change.  I like challenges.  What I don’t want to do on my death bed is have regrets about those things that I was too afraid to do.  I don’t want to wonder how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t been too afraid to do the things I was too afraid to do.