This Life

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It has been ages since I last visited any of my blogger friends or written a post. I never thought that within a few months my life would change drastically and so many things could happen all at once. I never knew how stressful life could become in a matter of days and how long it could last for.  However, I also never knew how much hurt and stress a person can handle, carry and experience and yet continue to wake up the next morning knowing full well that it would be a repeat of the day before.

Within a few months, I had resigned from my job, searched for another, completed all necessary paper work, missed a deadline for a job fair, paid an enormous amount of money for tickets to London to join another fair, gained weight, lost interest in exercise, heard about my son being bullied at school, received an email that informed us the very sad news that my husband's mother had a stroke, flew to Canada two days later, watched her pass on, watched the pain and tears in her loved ones' eyes, had little time to prepare for her memorial, worried about my lovely father-in-law, got little sleep, my husband got sick and his middle ears bled into his sinuses which prevented him from hearing well, my son got sick and after that my daughter after we returned to Bangkok and then to top it all off we had interviews several different schools to find a job.

I never knew that one could take so much stress and continue to smile to her children, friends and interviewers. I never knew that even amongst the clouds there is always a silver lining. I heard of that phrase but never actually experienced first hand.

During that time, my husband and I kept repeating the phrase "When it rains, it pours" over and over again and the only thing we could do was smile about it.The last few months gave me hope that no matter how many obstacles we might face on the way, there is always an ounce or two of energy left to keep us on our feet. It showed us that we can actually do this.... LIFE that is. We can look for those silver linings and actually make LIFE work for us. Focusing on the positives brought good things our way.

Despite all the above, we spent time with family and friends and our relationships were cemented, our kids got to spend time playing in the snow (it was Mina's first time), my father-in law told us about the many projects he had in mind, my son impressed us all by giving a speech during the memorial, my husband and I nailed four job offers in four different schools, we chose a job in Tanzania which we are excited about and we discovered how genuine and supportive family, friends and colleagues could be.

No matter what the universe throws at us, we should always remember that there is a reason for that. It is trying to teach us lessons. It is trying to helps us grow strong and know our own strength. It is trying to prove to us that there is so much more to us than what we or others might think we can do or take on.

I have certainly grown and am ready for more of what this life can offer.