A year away from a quarter of a century

This year's birthday, I felt like an adult.  No, this is not an I'm-such-an-old-fart blog post, but rather a monumental occasion.  It's surreal how much I can sit back a watch my life transfer from being a college kid to a real-life adult.  Not much more on that one since I think there's some blog post dedicated to me growing up somewhere in the past.  :)

Anywho, life has been on the uphill!  I went through a rough patch for a while with my health, and it took a toll on not just my body, but my heart and spirit as well.  Pain and uncertainty can suck the life out of you.  I felt like I was losing myself for a long time, but the good news is that I'm coming back and feeling much better.  Lessons learned you ask?  Oh, twist my arm.

#1: Just keep going.
No matter how hard life can get, just keep going.  It's only when you give up that you are defeated.

#2: It's OK to not be OK.
You don't have to be 100% all the time.  Give yourself the benefit of the doubt and some time to take care of YOU.

#3: Choose to be optimistic.
Over-analyzing and thinking of the worst-case scenarios will only take years off your life.

#4: Listen to your heart.
I read The Alchemist, and it CHANGED MY LIFE.  I'm going to have to read it a few more times to get it all, but one of the lessons I learned is to stop everything (including your racing mind) and listen to your heart.

Often times, when I go to sleep my heart is pounding, and I couldn't figure out why.  Well, it's because my mind and body were turning in for the night, and my heart finally could have a say, and it was screaming!  Funny as it sounds, I started having conversations with my heart that went something like this:

Me: Hey heart.  I'm listening now.  What's going on?
Brain: Dude, it's just ___ and ___.  Tell him to go to bed.
Me: Brain.  Shut. UP.
Heart: (Screaming) Hellooooo! Can you hear me?!
Me: Hello.
Heart: So you're going to listen?
Brain: I'm telling you he's just-
Me: BRAIN, I'm talking to heart.  Go to bed.  Go ahead heart.  Tell me why you are pounding.
Heart:  Sheesh.  Finally.  I'm concerned about ____ and I want you to _____ and I'm scared about ____ and I feel like ____.

It just kept going and going with all sorts of concerns and wishful thinking.  I listened.

Me: OK.  I totally see and understand all that you are saying  But let's be real.  Bedtime surely isn't the best time to chat about these things let alone yell them at me.  So how about we make a deal:  I'll listen more, and you'll let me sleep.
Heart: You promise?
Me: Cross my heart.
Heart: Just don't hope to die.