Tag Archives: changes

Everything Will Be Okay

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Everything Will Be Okay

The summer of 1970. So many memories come flooding back. I recall standing in line at Sam The Record Man in Toronto eager to purchase the newly released Beatles album, Let It Be. It was also the first day it was being sold in stores in Canada. One song in particular fast became my favorite– Across The Universe. The chorus became my mantra–nothing’s gonna change my world.

But how wrong that proved to be. My entire world was turned upside down in the months that followed and the summer of 1971 was not the one I had envisioned.

I was supposed to be traveling through Europe with a guy I’d met from New York. But I became ill over the winter and my doctor refused to give me the the required vaccinations for travel. So there went Europe. My dad also suffered his first heart attack. And I wound up going to summer school because I’d had to drop out of college that year when I’d been sick.

Decades later I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing’s gonna change my world is just a fallacy. It seems like something is always changing. My life is far from predictable. I know how I want things to go, but whether or not they actually go that way is another matter.

But a lot of great things have happened when life has thrown curve balls at me. I’ve had exciting adventures and met incredible people. Change can be good.

Next week I leave Aguascalientes. And I’m traveling to somewhere that is definitely not my first choice. I’m not flying out of or into my preferred airports. No, everything has changed this spring. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. I’m not sure exactly where I’ll be. I know where I want to be and what I want to be doing. But I hold onto the belief that everything will be okay.

Nothing’s gonna change my world is a fairy tale, not reality. But I still love the song.

This will also be my last post for a while until I figure out where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing.

Cheerio!

Changes

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Changes

It was a tough decision to figure out where to go this spring. It usually isn’t. And it’s never easy to say goodbye to people either. But it is that time of year again. So I booked a flight and I know where I’m going. The big unknown is how long I’ll be there. And where I’ll be going after.

I don’t enjoy traveling anymore. And this year especially I’m glad I won’t be traveling during spring break. I made that mistake a few years ago long before TSA agents were going without pay, and it was crazy enough back then. The photos I’ve seen of airports today are unnerving. They’re like scenes out of a bad movie. Cancellations due to inclement weather only add to the chaos.

I’m also contemplating taking a break from social media for a while. I keep getting bombarded with questions. When are you leaving? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? When will I see you again? And of course that gets me thinking at how reliant I’ve become on social media. And that’s probably not a good thing. It’s far too easy to text than to talk. But at least I text a fair amount in Spanish so that’s a plus.

I’ve seriously down-sized my newsfeeds. I’m beginning to understand why my parents never wanted me to watch the newscasts on TV when I was a child. And I’m thankful that my kids are grown and adults now. I sure wouldn’t want to be raising kids in today’s world. As a child my biggest worry back then was if we were going to have a fire drill at school with snow on the ground. And the only snow day I recall was the blizzard in 1966 that crippled the entire city of Winnipeg.

I wonder what the history books will say years from now. Will there even be books as we know them? Or will they be digital? What will classrooms look like? Better yet, will there even be classrooms? As it is, I take a fair number of courses online and I listen to audiobooks.

Change is why my life is far from boring and doesn’t lack for adventure. I may be a Boomer, but I don’t live there now.

Maybe

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Maybe

I have no idea when this will actually get posted, maybe today. Internet issues. Apparently there are problems with the modem. Someone from Izzy (our service provider) is supposed to come out to fix the problem today. But this is Mexico.

Fifteen years ago today I attended my daughter’s pinning ceremony for nursing. And about a month later her convocation at University of Manitoba where she obtained her Nursing degree. It seems like just yesterday.

I look back on the photos of that event. So much has changed since then. And I think back to my own graduation from University of Manitoba decades earlier. Both of my parents were there. And I feel badly for my daughter that this wasn’t the case for her. My marriage had ended the year before. While I felt it important to attend her graduation, (even delaying a move to Mexico by several months) sadly her father chose not to attend.

It’s hard to let go of your kids. My kids would probably say I was a helicopter mom when they were growing up. But thankfully that expression wasn’t coined until years later.

Still, I enjoyed volunteering in all their extracurricular activities and attending all their concerts and competitions throughout the years. Now, I watch my daughter compete in Powerlifting events on the internet. It’s not nearly as exciting as being there in person. But it does allow for some type of connection.

Only two weeks until I travel back to Washington. A bus trip and three flights. But every time I think maybe I’m getting too old for this, I think I want to keep going. I lead an interesting life and am not ready to give it up just yet.

I’ve decided on a title for the first book in my trilogy. Little Boy Lost. My protagonist hasn’t yet been diagnosed as being bipolar. He’s a child and is too young for that. But it provides good insight as to his character which is needed in order to understand what comes next in the following two books. My plan is to publish Little Boy Lost this summer and the second book shortly after.

I’m on my final edits now and am determined that they be done by the time I leave. So off to work I go, despite the temptation of having La Feria de San Marcos only two blocks away from where I live.

Proud Of Me

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Proud Of Me

Yep. That’s me. And oh the changes I’ve made in my life! And how wonderful I feel about myself! And then there’s that peaceful feeling in my heart!

There was a time when I lived my life for others. I never put myself first. I was afraid of doing the wrong thing and offending someone. It was easier to do what others expected of me rather than what I would have preferred to do. And I was caught up in the world of creating a good impression.

Does this sound familiar?

One of the most difficult changes I made in my life was learning to say No! and not just when asked to do something I didn’t want to do. Closely related was venturing off in a completely different direction than the one others had advised me to take.

Conformity is no longer a word in my vocabulary. I am free to make choices and couldn’t care less about being judged or criticized by others. Bring on the adventures!

It’s not an easy path that I’ve chosen. It is filled with struggles and challenges. But it is more than overflowing with strength and growth.

Here’s the result.

And I wouldn’t trade her for anything!