I Have One Fucking Rule....

Do Not Go Back For More Where There Is Only Less.

That's it.

So when you ask me what governs my life, this is the answer: Do not go back for more where there is only less. You see when I apply this to whatever situation I am in, the answer is clear. Leave shit alone... Walk the hell away or stay and suffer. I can only tolerate suffering for a few moments then I'm bailing.

You know what causes you pain. And you alone know how to stop the bleeding. So stop the bleeding,,, Unless the bleeding brings you some pleasure. And Baby that's when you know it's time to get help. Real help. Not your girlfriends over vodka tonics. Couch time with a trained professional... A Head Cleaner.

What I know for sure... that first you get the test... then the lesson. I believe this to be true because we think we will recognize the bullshit that keeps showing up in our lives.That's the test. Then we learn how to recognize bullshit, that's the lesson. I can attest we do not always learn the lessons or past the test for the first, second, or third time. I believe we don't recognize the bullshit because we are hoping that this time will be different than all the other times. We operate in a state of denial. We hope against hope that maybe what we are seeing and experiencing is just momentary and not real. It's always real. Sometimes people and opportunities show up as just what is needed until you realize this is not what's needed. Just the opposite. Then we go into a tailspin of sadness, depression and self assassination. How could I? Why did I? Raking ourselves through our history with that person and or situation. We see it... The moment we swallowed bullshit... Accepted bullshit... Settled for bullshit.

Life is to be lived with great gusto, Even in our quiet moments we ought to savor them. I can't afford to languish in bullshit, with people who just sell wolf tickets to a life they do not live nor even believe is possible. I can't hang with you as you entertain mess masquerading as foolish imitations of love and concern. And I certainly won't sit through someone pining away for someone else who has kicked you to the curb...Even if they haven't verbally said it... Yet their actions tell the truth. And you wander through their universe blind and unhappy. That's not what I want for myself. That's not who I want for myself.

I know how good love feels. I now how much I love myself. I am invested in my own happiness.

I have one fucking rule: Don't go back for more where there is only less.

How Did You Survive Everything They Always Ask

When folks hear my story, they always ask how did you survive everything? And then they add and you seem so whole, happy, larger than life. They say oh you get depressed? You seem like the happiest woman on the planet. (Well I am for the most part now)

Rape/Incest/Sexual exploitation
Suicide attempts
Divorce
Foreclosure
Bankruptcy
Federal prison
Unemployment
Sadness
Depression
Obesity (I hate this word... I prefer FAT... it just seems more bountiful)

I always answer depending which bad thing they are referring to. As I look back over my life and see just how far I've come. Sometimes I am baffled. It all seems so long ago. Maybe this for the book... The memoir.

I survived everything by believing that something better was just over the next hill. I just believed that good things would land on me. I believed that I was not meant to die all the times I tried to kill myself. I just didn't die. I survived when I was divinely entrusted with 4 little kids needing a mother. I needed them and did not know it until they arrived one by one.. They opened up a wealth of love that I had never known.I survived by marrying a man who cherished me for 12 of the 14 years we were married. He gave me a real sense of what love in action could be like. That it was possible to be loved just for myself. He did that. He brought me the gift of grown up love. I know I will have it again. I just believe there is someone out there for me... Someone who wants to be good to me and for me.

To survive anything I suspect, begins with believing that you will survive.. You have to redefine what surviving means. Always asking what do I need at this moment?. What do I need? Being clear about what you need helps with praying with purpose. Dear God help me with this, that or the other. And be willing to see what God sends for you.

I just believed I could become the woman of my dreams. So I set out with that thought. Asking how do I do that God, show me, direct my steps. Sometimes I listened to God and sometimes I did not. The journey is forward.

My Blogging Life: I'm The Audience

I blog to stay healed.

When I started blogging I was broken into a million tiny pieces. I was worse off than Humpty Dunpty. I had fallen so far down in my life getting up was a foreign concept.... Check my archives... I do periodically, to remind myself of just how far I've come. Blogging helped me save myself. From that very first send, I was hooked. I wasn't interested if anyone would find me. I was finding me. Each day I just poured my heart out. Sometimes I was drunk as hell. Sometimes I was typing through a monsoon of tears. And some days there was just enough sunlight to make me smile for a few moments and I could write about that.... Little bits of joy that started slipping in.

I found a community of folks who were just blogging and slogging... making their way and I joined them. I met folks who are my friends right this very minute. Folks I went to see. Folks who came to see me. Folks who I meet up with every other year. They have become apart of my life. They give me back to myself in countless unimaginable ways. They hold me up and hold me down.

I never thought to make a living doing this. I never thought I wanted a huge audience. I just wanted a place to share. I really believe I am talking to the universe in prayer. Each blog post is its own prayer for better or for worse. I'm not talking to anyone except myself and God.  So while I know some very famous bloggers who are doing their life's work, it is my joy to cheer them on. I am not one of them in that regard. I love being a blogger. I love this medium. I love how we connect and share and stay up with each other. When I drop by someone's blog it really does feel like I am visiting them at home. I can sit down and read a bit and connect with their life though what they share. I can leave a comment, ask a question or just keep on moving silently with reverence for their story.

I'm the audience of my blog. So, I am always pleasantly surprised when someone leaves a comment or emails me their thoughts. It still blows me away that folks feel my blog has some value and that something I said helped them on their journey. That is always an unexpected pleasure and gift.

I have no idea if and when this all will come to an end. Maybe I'll just stop just as I started. Maybe a new blog? Maybe something else. Oh I don't know. I do know, that blogging saved my life time and time again. That's it.

Old Goals... New Resolve.

I woke up one morning last week and looked in the mirror and saw my face very puffy. Puffy as in, I partied too much the night before and it showed up in my face. I have never had that experience. I brushed it off, until the puffiness sorta stayed with me. I went out and partied some more with a different set of friends. Good times my friends good times indeed. When I woke up that puffiness was still with me. I realized that I have to make some decisions about who I am and what I want to spend my time doing.

I called my Sister Lo freaking out... Lo, I have that "I'm drinking too much" puffy face! She started laughing and said, it means you are dehydrated and your body is trying to preserve itself.

I made a decision right then... one that I have been making over and over for the last decade. I am making my health a priority. The weight must come off. I am truly tired of it. Truly. So I did not restock my bar for the July 4th weekend. I have gone vegan for the last 3 weeks. Tomorrow I start a fast and dedicated prayer commitment. I am going back to running at sunrise.

I can't express what is different this time... with these goals... with this statement. All I know is I feel different. I feel resolute. I've felt resolute before. But this time, I am thinking about my mortality and what I want to see over the later part of my life. I want to enjoy a fit body. I want to be strong and in good health.

In 378 days I will be in London and Paris. I want to be fit! I want to be slim and trim, in the best shape of my life. There is no other way to get to that unless I start today. I have started today.

I will be kind and firm with myself. I will speak lovingly about this body as is and celebrate it as I reach my goals. I love myself and my life and all that I do must begin to reflect that. I understand that now.

So the journey continues with a new resolve to finish STRONG!