Life is Simple

My positive outlook has recently been challenged.  Although I was able to navigate several years of my life as care giver for a mother with Alzheimer disease, ovarian cancer for my sister, the death of each, and a broken foot I managed to navigate life without losing my positive outlook.  However, I recently received an abnormal mammogram which was followed by an MRI and then a biopsy. The good thing is that I don’t have cancer.  The bad thing is that I do need a double mastectomy. 

My doctors urged me to have the surgery soon so my procedure is now scheduled.  The surgery will be followed by a few days where my arms movement will be limited because I will have drains installed in each breast for at least a week. Once the drains are removed, my activities will still be limited for a week or two, and I just avoid thinking about the scars.

"I am not a product of my circumstances, I am a product of my decisions."

Steven Covey

Shortly after I received the diagnosis, I was driving to work and my thoughts wandered into unfamiliar territory as I began to think “What is the point?  Who would miss me if I just didn’t do the surgery and let nature take its course?  Why do I matter?”  The wave of depression that hit me was both sudden and unfamiliar.  This line of thinking is so uncharacteristic of who I am as a person that it took me a few moments before I realized there was a risk of sinking into a state of reflective defeat.  No Bueno.  I became angry with myself for even entertaining even a moment of that defeatist attitude and immediately decided that I had two choices,  I could surrender or I could look for the positive.  Since I believe  that everything in life happens for a reason, the choice was obvious.

Life is simple but we insist on making it complicated.

Confucius

I began to think of a friend who had breast cancer. Her mastectomy was followed by chemotherapy and the traumatic side effects that went along with the treatment. It occurred to me that I am so much more fortunate than many others with a mass in their breast.  I immediately felt a sense of shame for feeling defeated, even if it was for only a moment, because I don’t have cancer, I am not going to need chemotherapy, and they identified the mass before it either become malignant or invaded  the artery or my heart.

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is that quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.' "

Mary Anne Radmacher

It occurred to me that life is simple but our perspective makes life appear more complicated than it really is.   Thanks to the media, the world today is saturated with messages that try to convince us what our life should be like, what we are all doing wrong, what we should look like, and what we need in order to be happy. These messages that encourage us to seek perfection only serve to shift the focus away from everything in  life that is good.  What I need to remember is that one person's idea of perfect may be another person's idea of a flaw. Who I strive to be needs to be less about what I look like and more about who I am.  A person who loses a limb but still finds a way to run a marathon, or a child battling cancer but is still smiling, may be physically imperfect in the eyes of some people but they are the epitome of perfection in my eyes.  Each time I see a homeless person who demonstrates kindness in spite of their circumstances I am reminded me that the perfect car means nothing to people whose primary concern is about trying to make it through another day.  Once our basic need for survival  is met, the rest is a blessing that can be easy to overlook if our focus is on someone else's definition of perfect.

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you. They are supposed to help you discover who you are."

Bernice Reagan

When it comes down to a discussion on life or death, I have been reminded that life is about survival, family, friends, and those intangible things that make me happy.  This is how I thrive in spite of adversity.  I emerge from all of this with physical and emotional scars; but those scars are reminders that I am strong enough to endure any challenge and courageous enough to create my own definition of perfect.  Life isn’t complicated.  Life is simple.  It is my perspective that makes life seem complicated by creating expectations which have nothing to do with living a happy life.

"If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough."

Oprah Winfrey

Re-Discovering The Rhythm

 

A few months ago I started playing piano again.  This has been quite an undertaking because I haven’t played for a couple of decades.  I first started to play at age 8.  Around the age of 15 my mother and I had a difference of opinion regarding the type of music I should play so I refused to continue lessons.  In compromise, my mom stopped insisting that I continue to go further with my piano lessons as long as I continued to play. At the time it felt liberating to be able to focus solely on some of the more trendy music but I regret the decision. Once I left home my priorities changed and playing piano was something I did only if I had time until I eventually stopped making time to play altogether.

“A painter paints pictures on canvas, but a musician paints pictures on silence.”

Leopold Stokowski

A few people assume that I started playing again so I could feel close to my mother.   Playing the piano does bring back memories of mom, but my reason for starting to play again has nothing to do with my mother’s memory. I am doing this only for myself.  Mom taught music, and she was an accomplished pianist, but she was more than just a musician to me.  Playing music just brings me so much pleasure and has always been an outlet for me when life wasn't kind. Now that I am playing again, music helps me reconnect with that essential part of myself that I have been neglecting.  When I was growing up, music was as much a part of our daily ritual as breathing air. I can not begin to describe how much I have missed playing. At times I would consider carving out time for piano again but there was always something else that needed my attention more so my piano was always put off for a later day.  When I needed to become caregiver for my mom I thought about playing again but time was such a precious commodity during those years.  Then I lost both my sister and my mom within months of each other and began to realize that I need to stop taking tomorrow for granted.

“Music can change the world because it can change people.”

Bono

Anyone who has been rendered emotionally or spiritually bankrupt by a devastating loss or traumatic event seeks to find solace in something.  When I am hurting, I tap into my creative spirit by cooking, drawing, or writing as I listen to music.  Although I stopped playing, music has always been present in my life. My regret is that it took a major life event before I would give myself permission to carve out time to engage in something that I love. I think most people put off pursuing their passions  for a variety of reasons.  For some of us time is the enemy; but it is easy to become so busy putting everyone and everything else first that we risk losing a part of ourselves.  Some people never start because they are afraid of failure. Other people  are afraid of imperfection so they give up on their creative endeavors too soon. I think that we need to engage in those pursuits that we are passionate about, and give ourselves permission to be imperfect,  because nurturing our spirit is just as important as nurturing our physical selves. 

“Music was my refuge.  I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to the loneliness.”

Maya Angelou

I tend to be a very social person but these last few months I have chosen to spend more time alone than I usually do.  A few people have expressed their concern about this but I assured them that being alone and being lonely are completely different states of being.  The saying that we are all responsible for our own happiness is true.  Even when circumstances are out of our control, how we respond is a choice. I can choose to sit at home feeling sad or I can stay at home and engage in things that make me happy.  My choice is happiness but after several difficult years I just needed time to discover my own rhythm once again.

As far as piano goes, I am doing much better than I thought I would do but I am not as good as I want to be.  I signed up for classes because I need a refresher on a few things and I want to learn to both play and compose a different style of music.  A group who plays for hospitals and charity events has talked to me about joining them.  I don't think I am ready yet but I asked them to approach me in six months if they still need someone.  Music is a time commitment, and practice is critical, but I make time because music is both a need and a want for me.  It challenges my mind while it makes me feel both happy and content.  I love my mom, I treasure the memories, and I am grateful that she gave me the gift of music but I am doing this for me.

 

“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.”

Frank Zappa

 

 

 

Focus On The Journey, Not The Destination

 Mother's day was about a week ago and this was the first Mother’s Day that I have not had a Mother to buy a card for. Fortunately, I have wonderful children who did things to make the day extra special but I still felt a little nostalgic. My mom passed away a few months ago and I have kept myself busy, almost too busy, in an effort to insulate myself from the sorrow. However,  In those moments of sorrow and reflection I often found myself thinking of my life when I was growing up. As I mused on this, I realized that my childhood was a simpler time for me, but that was because my parents were the ones who took responsibility for the big things in life.  The life that I have now isn’t any simpler than the life my parents had, it is simply different. One of the biggest differences between myself and my parents is that my parents worked hard but they also made a point of carving out time for the simple pleasures. Yet, as I strive for better, I am not as consistent in making time for  simple things that serve no purpose other than making me happy.

“If you would rather live surrounded by pristine objects than by the traces of happy memories, stay focused on the tangible things. Otherwise, stop fixating on stuff you can touch and start caring about stuff that touches you.”

Martha Beck.

Over-commitment is something I have always struggled with and a couple of months ago I was home enjoying a beautiful spring day when an old memory surfaced. I remembered sitting at my mom’s piano learning a new piece of music as the spring sunshine and the smell of flowers filled the room. This is a memory that hasn’t surfaced for years but I felt a sense of happiness as I remembered the many hours that I spent at the piano playing, composing, and learning. Over the years I stopped making time to play the piano because I had other priorities. From time to time I considered taking up my piano again, however, time was a precious commodity and piano is a daily commitment so I  put if off for another day. On this particular morning, as I stood in front of that open window, I found myself smiling over an old memory and wished with all of my being that I could relive a few of those moments.

My parents understood the value of making time for things that would enrich the spirit. When I was growing up, creativity was encouraged. My mother had a music degree and she taught both Piano and Music theory. Music was such a part of our daily routine that, for the longest time, I didn’t even realize that there are some people who can’t read music. Although Music is still a large part of my life in many ways, I no longer play. On a whim, I went it and sat at my piano to play but my fingers were no longer limber. I made a commitment to practice scales and cadences daily until my scales actually sounded like notes flowing up the keyboard again.  I have made time for piano every day since and I enjoy every moment of it. Playing again is like reconnecting to an old friend. I feel as though I am renewing my bond with Beethoven. It occurred to me that in my quest for the idyllic life I have sacrificed those simple pleasures and, in doing so, I may have cheated myself.

A few days later I was listening to a friend of mine make a similar statement. She asked me, “Why is it that I hesitate to give my self permission to just make time for things that just make me happy?” I thought of  something I read once called “The Station” by Robert J Hastings and I decided that I need to re-evaluate some of my priorities.

…..“But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. At a certain day, on a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags will be waving. Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jig saw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering………waiting,  waiting, waiting... for the station.

“When we reach the station that will be it!” we cry………when I turn 18, when I finally buy my new Mercedes, when I put my last kid through college, when I payoff my mortgage, when I get a promotion, when I reach retirement age……….then I shall live happily ever after.

Sooner or later we must realize that there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. “Relish the moment” is a good motto. It is not the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today. “

Quote from “The Station “

By Robert J Hastings.

 I  made a commitment to create time for things that just make me happy. Knowing that I tend to be driven I need to remember a quote by Joel Osteen, "Sometimes our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness." 



This Mother's day my son wanted to take me out for dinner.  I like to cook and have several shelves of old cookbooks and one of the things that makes me happy is trying a new recipe or a different cooking technique. Food brings people together but I realized that, in an effort to save time, we often go out for dinner. I was craving comfort food from home so I suggested that my son come over and we can make dinner.

The dinner was great but the camaraderie was even better. We are both very busy and the time to prepare, cook, and clean up gave us time to catch up. The day reinforced the idea that I need to make time for those simple pleasures which I put off until tomorrow because there is no guarantee of a tomorrow.

We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

What I find  ironic is that while focusing on  the more tangible aspects of life in order to make the journey more pleasant it is easy to forget to just enjoy the journey. Sometimes we all just need a little reminder.  I know that I do. As I was reflecting on how to rearrange my schedule to make time for these happy moments...I broke my foot.  Limited mobility forced me to slow down but it also helped me realize that there is no excuse not to carve out time for things that just make me happy.  I think that the universe is trying to tell me something and I get the message loud and clear. There is no station waiting for me. Life is  the journey, not the destination.

 

Grief Is A Process, Not A Parking Spot

 

The last six months have difficult.  I watched cancer take my sister and a few weeks later I found myself sitting in Hospice watching my mother fade.  The holiday season was a blur of sorrow, a parade of people, a constant feeling of exhaustion, and too much stress.   Mom passed away shortly after the New Year and I was with her until the end.  Although I thought I was prepared for her passing, when she left us my heart just imploded.  Over the next few days it felt as though I was navigating through a fog of sorrow making funeral arrangements and the ever constant parade of people.   

A few days ago, for the first time in months, I had my first full day alone.  As I poured my morning coffee, I noticed that the cup I was using was one that my mother had given me almost twenty years ago.  Throughout the day I seemed to be more aware of my mother’s influence in my life.  It was a comforting feeling to know that mom had left an imprint on my life that will never fade.  I still feel sad but I am wise enough to understand that sorrow is normal at a time like this because grief is a process, but grief should not be a parking spot.

 

 As I mused on how to navigate this difficult time, I reflected back on the last few months and realized that so many things went wrong; but just as many things went right. There had been tension between my mother and I, but when I received that call that she needed me I wouldn’t think of hesitating.   I was unprepared and had to learn about both Alzheimer disease and caregiving on the fly. There were times when I felt completely overwhelmed but the upside is that I had more than two years to reconnect with my mother.  Mom was surrounded by people who cared about her in her last days and she had a chance to see everyone before she passed away.  She even made it through one last Christmas, although I am not completely certain that she was even aware of the holidays this year.  I had the right people near me at the right time.  Even the things that didn’t go according to plan seemed to set a chain of events in motion which led me to something that I needed more. 

“Life is lumpy.  A lump in your oatmeal, a lump in your throat, and a lump in your breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference.” Robert Fulghum

This last two and a half years, as I watched as my mom battle Alzheimer Disease, it felt as though she was fading right in front of my eyes one memory at a time. The demands on my time and my emotions were enormous so I began to put distance between myself and the consistent whiners. I am not demeaning anyone’s personal challenges but I heard a motivational speaker say once that “A lump in your oatmeal is an inconvenience and a lump in your breast is a problem.  Unfortunately, there are folks who react to both lumps the same way.” There was a time when I would patiently allow someone to waste my time complaining about the lumps in their oatmeal just as vehemently as they complained about their real problems.  The last two years has taught me that time is valuable so I should not waste it listening to people who complain endlessly yet have a myriad of excuses for not improving their situation.  Time was a precious commodity so I had to put distance between myself and a few acquaintances but these last few years also reinforced a few other friendships and even made them stronger.

 

“There comes a time in your life when you walk away from all of the drama and the people who create it.  You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right and pray for those who don’t.  Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.” 

Jose N. Narris Mi Vida

 

One of the people I don’t make time to talk with often called me a mere hours after my mother’s memorial. I was out with family and it took less than a minute to realize that the purpose of the call wasn’t consolation or concern. I felt as though she saw my loss as an opportunity for shared drama so she could begin a tirade of complaints about a “lump in the oatmeal problem.”   The timing of her call was less than ideal but that call also helped me realize that the best way to navigate through my pain was to focus on the memories that would keep me smiling.  After making a gentle exit from the conversation I returned to the table with a resolve to change the spirit of the moment.  I looked around at my family and asked, “Did mom ever share the story about the first time she changed a flat tire?” Most of them shook their head so I told a story that my mother told me when I was learning to change a tire in my Driver’s Education class.

 

“Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away.  Most of this ‘something’ cannot be seen or heard or numbered or scientifically detected or counted.  It is what we leave in the minds of other people and what they leave in ours.  Memory.  The census doesn’t count. Nothing counts without it.”

Robert Fulghum,

All I Really Need to know I Learned in Kindergarten.

 

When I was younger we lived in a remote area, and the trip to our place was down a remote country road.  My dad made certain mom knew a few car basics (such as changing a flat tire) in the event that she ever broke down on the road home.  He even had her practice changing a tire until he felt comfortable that she could manage on her own.  A few months later mom was on her way home when she had a flat tire on a remote part of the road. I remember mom telling me that she was grateful she could change the tire herself so she “got out of the car and just got to work.”  As she was finishing the task, someone came by and stopped to offer assistance.  My mom told him “No thank you.  I just finished changing the tire so I should be all set!”  The man looked a little confused as he examined what she had done. Finally he said nodded and said, “Yes, and you did a fine job.  Perhaps I can help you change the flat tire.”  Mom looked at the car and to her dismay she realized that she had been so intent on changing the tire herself that she changed the one she had practiced on instead of the one that was flat! My mother said she and my dad would laugh over that story every time there was a tire issue with one of the cars.   

 

This story prompted others to share their stories of my mom’s adventures and it wasn’t long until we were smiling in fond remembrance of my petite little mother who was feisty, intelligent, loved to laugh, loved animals, loved to garden, loved anything that was artistic, was an accomplished musician, and would strive to teach her students a genuine love of music.  My mom was independent, outspoken to a fault, impetuous, compassionate, kind, and artistic. She could be just as stubborn and headstrong as she was kind and compassionate which meant that she could be frustrating at times.  Yet, what I admired most about her was the fact that she was genuine.  She wasn’t afraid to take a risk, speak her mind (even if it made her unpopular) and she would be the first to laugh at herself when she made a mistake.  .

“Remember tonight for it is the beginning of always.”

Dante

 

I think grief is a byproduct of love because we only grieve losing what we care about.  While grief is about mourning what was lost, living is the fine art of balancing what was, what is, and what will be.  I want to cherish my memories of yesterday while I work on living to the fullest today so I can create a set of happy memories that my family will smile about, and hopefully cherish, someday when I am gone.  

Thank you to my mother who taught me to always be myself, the love of music, art, nature, not be afraid to take a risk, and to value living life to it's fullest. 

Rest In Peace Mom. You are in my heart always.