I have stolen this quote from facebook as it gave me the much needed inspiration I was looking for to update my blog.  I can't believe how long it's been since I posted.  Here is what I want to share with you: "There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good.  After all, life is too short to be anything but happy"

Hopefully I have haven't broken any copyright laws.  There is a great book called "Traveling Light" by Max Lucado.  The basic message of the book is that when we are born, God gives us our own personalized set of baggage.  For me, my baggage includes coping with an awful disease and a heart that feels broken by all that I have "lost" since getting masto.  You have your own set too.  Maybe a bad relationship, the death of a loved one, financial issues.  It doesn't matter what your baggage is, because there is no return policy.  You have to learn to deal with it.  As we move along life, people try to get us to help them carry their baggage.  We insert ourselves into a situation that is really none of our business or get carried away with someone elses issues.  In essence, you are agreeing to carry their baggage along with your own.  The problem is we can all only carry so much before we collapse under the weight of all this baggage.  Trust me on this one- don't pick it up.  I picked up someone elses baggage right after Christmas and it ended up blowing up in my face.  My attempt to help someone deal with a problem that I had no business in was a disaster and caused major drama and led to severed friendships. 

So, I have managed to let go of the drama.  I now live in a drama free zone, and things are much better!  Now that I have mastered steering clear of drama, I'm working on the "life is too short to be anything but happy" part.

You all know I have a crappy disease.  The last few months have been particularly difficult.  Nothing serious, just a pothole on my life path.  I'm sure there will be many more to come.  This last time though, was an eye opener.  An important person in my life gave me what we like to call a "reality check" and reality was that I was not participating in life.  I had put up walls around me that I didn't even realize we there.  I had stopped communicating.  Stopped being excited about seeing friends or family.  I thought about what this person said and it really made sense.  I was living a life with no joy, and it was all my own doing.  So, I gave myself an attitude adjustment.  I am so grateful that this person loved me enough to call me out on my crap.

My whole life, I was the person who made people laugh.  I was confident, kind, caring, compassionate.  I was many GREAT things.  My problem was I was so weighed down with all my new baggage that Dawn disappeared and I did nothing to stop it.  Then I beat that Dawn up with all my might.  I called her all sorts of mean things and made her feel bad every chance I could.  Well, I'm done doing that.  I made a simple decision that I would find JOY every single day.  It doesn't have to be something big, it can be anything.  Today my JOY came in helping Sarah with some big decisions she is facing and more JOY enJOYing one of the delicious banana muffins Hannah made for me. 

Part of my process was silly, but it was cathartic.  I wrote a break up letter to masto.  I laid down the law and took back my control.  No more will masto be dictating how I live life.  I choose JOY, I choose happiness, I choose to be an active participant in this life.  It feels like I lost 100#'s!  JOY feels great.  Accepting change is much easier than fighting it.  I know I have a long road (hopefully) ahead of me and that no matter how hard I try, masto will always be there, but now I have masto, it doesn't have me!  And the good news is Dawn is back.  I'm sassy, funny, and ready to live.

My wish for you is that your baggage isn't too much to carry.  If it is, I suggest getting rid of some of it and seeing if you notice a difference.  You are the only one who can decide how much you can carry.  That's the great part about life- every single day we get a do-over.  So, recheck what you've packed in your baggage and get rid of what you don't need.  Life is too short to be anything but happy.  As Zig Ziglar (I have no idea who that is) said: "Will you look back on life and say I wish I had or I'm glad I did?