To say the least, life as of late has been really hectic. My previous job had been a miserable dark hole with dark with gossiping, back-stabbing, negative and political people. Home was busy and hectic as usual getting things done with kids and adjusting schedules. The normal 3-alarm fires blazed up in life in the form of finances, health, yada-yada. You name it folks and it just seemed to happen, but even worse than before (or so it seemed – read on)! And to top it off as icing on the cake, the stress was as unbearable as it ever had been and definitely bogged me down something fierce causing emotional and physical roller coaster feelings that I have hardly experienced in my life.

Well today I can happily, from the other side, say that I Never Settled and I Never Gave Up and I am glad I didn’t!

Never Settle for Life the way it is! Never Give Up on what you are trying achieve. If you believe you WILL achieve!

In life, many of us try to find that perfect norm / medium in our work / home / play life balance so we can develop our/a healthy rut (system) that is the get up and go we depend on in our lives. Some of us have already found it and continue to perfect it daily. Some of us haven’t found it yet but strive to. And yet some of us are just out there still trying to find some kind of direction and motivation. Friends, it is a never-ending struggle, but one that we should never just settle for and give up on!

I had become so set and spoiled in life a little and was a little complacent on change because things were going good for the most part. Everybody was satisfied, I was somewhat satisfied , so why should I mess things up and introduce change and a time that was a little volatile? Well for many reasons friends; family and job security, digging those roots in, trying to establish myself and family in life for the long haul; this has been a journey I have been on as of late and for the last few years that I am trying to satisfy and realize. Well those feelings were on the surface.

Deep underneath the surface is where it matters the most and I knew that things were heading south in life. I was working in a negative and political workplace for starters and the stresses from that began to bear down as I began to accept that as my way of life. My health was failing due to the stress from work and other things happening in life at the time. The perfect storm begins to brew. I have had to deal with ill family members along with myself being ill and having to see doctors. Perfect Storm brews and ready to commence. So like I do, I kept pushing. Pushed so hard until I became physically exhausted and then stress beared in and did me in for the rest! The Perfect Storm strikes!!!!

I went from being a very healthy and active person to very sick and ill in a matter of days to weeks and progressively got worse. Doctors were baffled and did every test and probe known to man to try to figure out what was going on. They came up with nothing. So the Perfect Storm continued to brew because now I think there is something wrong with me and kept throwing money at the cause. Before you know it, I was stressed about the stress and that never-ending vicious cycle had begun. It was all in my head at this point for sure and I knew it!

So because I never give up and constantly stay doing something, I began to lean on God and the medicines to help change my issues and train of thought (something that takes time but is capable if you are willing). Slowly I began and focused on my health and stabled back out some, whew! Next, I got back out there helping out in the different things I volunteer with. I continued to enjoy the simpler things in life even though life around me was still a mess. Next, I was blessed with the opportunity to work for a company that is like family offering what I have considered my “Dream Job” for as long as I have been on this earth. Due to this opportunity, life began to open back up and not seem so negative and the dark clouds of the Perfect Storm started moving more and more into the distance. Weather in my area of life is partly cloudy still but breaking up more and more daily! Life is starting to turn around all because I never settled and turned my outlook around.

I never settled on what the doctors told me was wrong, I accepted the fact and tried to move on as best as I could relying on their expertise.

I never settled on just dealing with negative people at work, I just gave up trying to care for them as they were a lost cause and in return was provided with the job of a lifetime!

I never settled on having a pity party since it felt that everything was falling apart in my life (because it was), I kept on going somehow and have found sunny skies once again!

I STOPPED WORKING AND LET GOD WORK FOR ME!

Life will throw a lot at you. As you all know, stress is not caused by events; it is caused by your response to those events. Sometimes we cannot always be strong and satisfied and have to accept the fact that God is trying to change our lives and that stress is there and not avoid it. Float through it all. Float through what God is helping you with and relinquish control to him. Float through the stress and find a way to effectively and positively deal with it. It is hard to do these thing but trust when I tell you that they become easier with age, experience and growing wisdom.

When things like what happened with me recently occurred in my life once or twice before, it was during major changing times in my life where God was moving me on closer to his plan for me. I did not understand it all until it was halfway through or all over, but eventually I fully understood it. I was rewarded to have taken the journey to get there because it helped me understand what the struggle was for and all about. It also battle-tested me to be ready to not only have more in life but handle more in life as well which is equally as important!