"With a little help from my friends"

For the past couple of months I've been pretty miserable. Oh really, you knew? I wasn't hiding it well in my Little Miss Sunshine posts? Yeah, sorry. Usually I keep my more personal diary-type entries hidden but I've decided to track noticible trends around certain times of the year or in particular situations where my attitude goes in the toilet.

Well, last week after my Starbucks post, I got an email from a friend, an incredibly intelligent and insightful friend - wise beyond his years, who offered some suggestions for pulling myself out of the pit in which I'd found myself. He suggested as a starting point, listening to the Beatles, which was coincidental since I've been listening to them again recently.
Anyway, the one song he commented on was "A Day in the Life".
He wrote, "Not necessarily the lyrics, but the title. I find it puts things in perspective. Things happen. Sometimes they're good, great, Grand. Other times, well... not so much. But either way, it's a day in the life and it's better than not having it at all. If it's a bad day, it reminds you that it's only a day, it's an experience, though maybe not a good one. Like the theory goes, how do you know what happiness is without sadness? And if it's a good day, well, it's a reminder that not every day is like that, so enjoy it. Either way, it's life.... and while not always fun and super, it's something to experience."

Aside from the sheer, reassuring 'human-ness" of his email (I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit), it reminded me that: I've developed a lot of good coping skills over the years. I can find any of my personal "pick-yourself-up & pull-yourself-together" songs on iTunes or youtube in an instant (that'll be tomorrow's post), I have a wealth of photo reminders of good times and wonderful friends. And above all, I have friends who care enough and are empathetic enough to act on impulse with a simple email or phone call.

Literally, in a moment I turned the corner.

That day, I put in for 3 weeks holidays in March and have spent the past week checking out dream travel destinations like I'm in the tourist candy store - Asia, Africa, South America and the US (California and Hawaii - warm weather only). I don't know if I'll actually end up in any of those places but what the hell, it's only money right?

Today I called the ORC and inquired about tennis lessons (I've never played). They said can you come tonight? I said sure! $105 and they give you a free racquet and 7 lessons. I had so much fun on my first night. I'm meeting new people from my neighbourhood, learning a new skill and you know what? I'm pretty good!

Honestly, I'm shaking my head because I have no idea how I let myself get so wrapped up in grief and self-pity. Who was that person?

So, since I can't come up with a way to close this, I'll leave you with a quote attributed to Albert Einstein (among others) that sums things up...

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”