Processing Life
There has been a lot going on in my life lately. We completed the renovations on our three bathrooms with just a few hiccups that were solved by a talented and honest contractor. Maintaining our health seems to be a full time job lately and I have spent the last five months having 9 dental crowns “installed” to replace the vast land of silver that resided in my mouth. I have been working with a web master to redesign my website www.lorettaschoen.com and my brain is being severely overtaxed with understanding and resolving the glitches and the intricacies of the World Wide Web. Throw in setting up an LLC (I didn’t want to start a business, I just wanted to write a book!), learning marketing methods such as Mail-chimp to let you all know about my book, and making sure that the state of Florida gets its fair share in taxes. Speaking of taxes, I have been feeling so overtaxed that I swear that is why my hair is thinning and I’m seriously thinking of getting a wig.
But the biggest news is – (drum roll please) – my book Surviving Medical Mayhem- Laughing When It Hurts has been published and will be released on Amazon and Barnes & Noble on August 8th! But you don’t have to wait. Get a copy from my website, www.lorettaschoen.com.
All in all it’s been fearfully exciting or FRAPPY!
No, it’s not a typo – it’s fearful and happy in one word.
I’m trying to remain calm and centered – as calm as any American of Italian descent can be. For those of you who have not been exposed to Italians, we are a breed of people who need little to get excited, hysterical, and crazy. But I am working hard to stay calm. As my daughter would say, “Mom, these are 1st world problems”. And she’s right. So in that vein, I’m trying to spend time being physically active to burn off nervous energy instead of what I really want to do which is to eat every carb known to man, woman and child. I am trying to spend consistent time in meditation to quiet my mind that keeps wondering like a search engine on a perceptual scavenger hunt for a question that has no answer.
I am connecting with other Christians who just like me are trying to keep their eyes on Christ. I’m working hard to do my morning devotion and not get distracted by my “To Do” list first.
I know that talking and listening to God (while some say is a sign of insanity) has helped me to maintain a sense of calm to the cacophony of chaos swirling in the hurricane that is my mind.
Which brings me to my question – How do you process life?
Are you optimistic, active and social or do you find yourself short-tempered, fast and irritable? Are you analytical, wise and introspective? Or do you stay relaxed and peaceful as you process life events.
Like many, I process the highs and lows emotionally: laughter, tears, anger, excitement, fear, and prayer filled courage. God has gifted me with the art of storytelling, so I process life by talking, writing and creative storytelling. Through words I rejoice and recover from life’s monumental moments. Each of these ways allows me to process my thoughts and give them wings to either fly high or fly away. Storytelling allows me and the reader to view the message God has for me as redemption stories. I use humor as a walking stick to help with the arduous mountain roads I have had to hike. Being able to laugh at myself or the circumstance lowers my blood pressure, calms my soul, and applies the brakes on what would otherwise make me want to jump off the side of the proverbial cliff.
Most of all whatever mayhem I may meander through, God will stretch me to strengthen me, mold me to show His mercy and grace and straightened my path that I may walk in the way of Christ. I pray that I may tame my tongue, open my heart and keep my soul connected to God so that I may see the work He is doing in and around me. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge Him and He will lead your paths straight”. Psalm 3:5-6
So how do you process life? How do you celebrate the good and mourn the bad? How do you cope with the mountain roads that take you high and low? Please share so others may gain from your insight.
I have had great support in the publishing of my book, Surviving Medical Mayhem – Laughing When it Hurts and wish to thank all of you who have already ordered it. If you have read it and enjoyed it, please consider posting a review on Amazon or Goodreads. If you haven’t gotten your copy, you can get a copy on my website at www.lorettaschoen.com.
Blessings for health & wellness.