We’re all in this world for a purpose. So make your purpose…. shine.

#Gratitude post

Earlier this morning, Honorable Son II told me that a 13 year old friend of his on the other side of the world (bless the Internet for penpals) committed suicide (bullied by an anonymous jerk – curse the Internet for horrible scum who should be drawn and quartered slowly and then fed to deserving pirahna). Still checking on the data about that.

Will be spending time with him/husband/family today but it did move me to write the following gratitude post. You just never know what tomorrow will bring… you just never know. With that, let’s begin!

First off, my wonderful family, spouse, kids, siblings, parents, mooses and all – been 21 years since I said “I do!” to Honorable Husband and I wouldn’t change anything at all. Lots of great times, some particularly miserable times, huge amount of character-building times…. but it all contributed towards making us the magnificent folk we are today.

Workwise, I’m extremely bless to have folks like Brad Spencer, Dennis Becker, Debbie Benstein, Judy Kettenhofen, Ben Adkins, Don Wilson, Rachel Rofe,Andrea Schmitz, Marlon Sanders, Paul Myers, Tina Williams, Rob Maggs, Alessandro Zamboni, Tiffany Rae Lambert, Norma Rickman, Sue Fleckenstein,Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian, Di Heuser, Shawn Hansen,Marci Aurila, Colin Theriot, Robin M Lee, and dozens more who constantly renew my faith in my industry. Appreciate you all!

And the Febmoms – won’t tag folks here but y’all know who I mean!! We’ve been together now for almost 20 years and our Febkids are in college – I think we’re one of the oldest online active groups around. From wondering if we should wake up our babies every 2 hours for feeding at 2am (hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha) … to wondering how much math work in Kindergarten was too much (answer ITS NEVER ENOUGH!!! MORE MORE MATH! ) to watching our kids painfully struggle along their paths to becoming the person they’re meant to be – I appreciate y’all more than I could ever express.

And the fellow MooseAppreciators and BirdieTechSupport Lovers ( Andy Brocklehurst and Val Hampson among others!) – life is just enhanced by these wondrous beings.

Reading the wisdom of Crowden Satz and Marc MacYoung and Cat Graham and Esther Bee and others…. rounds it out perfectly.

In closing, please remember the following.

1.) *Suicide kills more than just you.*

It leaves an gaping wound in the people who love you. Never ever ever, please, take that final step – you are a glorious individual in this world and while life might at times seem as hopeless as decaf… this too, shall pass. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Make use of it.

2.) *Communication shines.*

If you’re having issues with a family member or friends and it hasn’t yet progressed to the DangerWillRobinsonYou’reHosed point (ie, there’s still hope), try to reach out. If the words get in the way, write a letter (so long as this is a friend/loved one you’re thinking about, and not someone who will use it as proof of whatever in the future) and let them know you will always but *always* believe in them. If the relationship *is* too toxic, however, give yourself permission to calmly say goodbye and cut them from your life. Then celebrate by diving into 3 scoops of Cookie Dough Ice Cream with Chocolate Magic shell and rejoice about the gift you just gave yourself. You are beautiful and you deserve people who can appreciate the superbly marvelous person that you are.

3.) *Turn the little voice inside your head into your cherished friend.*

We all have moments when we doubt ourselves. Others might see us as people who “have it all” but you know something? Self-doubt can be a hideous paralyzing insidious disease that saps us of belief in ourselves (Look at Robin Williams). Now, I won’t go into all the reasons for that, but I will say, take this quick self-evalution:

* Would you be there for the people you love?

* Would you refrain from taking advantage of those easy marks who would never know about it in the future?

* Would you validate your friends/loved ones who were hurting?

If the answer is YES to all the above, then dammit you’re 98% better than the rest of the worlds population so whenever your little voice denigrates you… recognize that’s your own fear manifesting itself because the KNOWN fear is comforting and not scary to deal with. Believing in yourself, however … takes a HELL of a lot of courage. But it’s worth it!

Thus give yourself permission to turn that fearvul little voice into a majestic shining purple-eyed dragon whose sole purpose in life is to protectively witness your life journey and encourage you along its way. If not a dragon, perhaps a blue-eyed wolf. Or a golden-eyed white tiger. Choose an appropriate name, say, Fluffy. Fluffy the Guardian Wolf is someone who is enduring, don’t you think?

And finally… after reading this, please take a moment to tell the people you love that you love them, to reach out to folks currently going thru tough times and ask, hey, need a shoulder?, and share it if you know of someone who could benefit from reading it today.

We’re all in this world for a purpose. So make your purpose…. shine.

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling