The Awesomeness of Life

Being home as my mom's little puppy dog (not literally), I follow her around to run errands.  Other than Sephora, one of our favorite errands to run is to shop at Barnes & Noble.  After we had found the book we sought out to buy, my mom browsed her favorite section: the cook books.  I don't really fancy searching through books about food and even more food, so I looked through the self-help and psychology section.  I am a sucker for these kind of books.  Some may have a guilty pleasure of reading cheesy paperback romance novels or travel guides of countries they know they'll never go, but me, I choose self-help and psychology books.  Well, I found a book that put the biggest smile on my face:  The Book of Awesome.  It detailed aspects of life that we take for granted.  For example, waking up and realizing we still have more time to sleep.  Or, wearing clothes fresh out of the dryer.  Maybe the smell of a recent rainfall or perhaps falling asleep and waking up with a blanket that someone put on you.  I found his original website that became famous before he published the book.  I recommend taking a minute to look at it:

1000 Awesome Things

Well, here's an awesome thing:  I visited with a dear friend, Heidi, this weekend.  We took one of her dogs for a walk through the woods.  We came to a creek, climbed onto a rock in the middle and just sat and talked.  It was amazing.  I forgot how beautiful the sound of rushing water is.  I forgot how fast time can fly when you spend it with a good friend.  And, most of all, I forgot that being with people who understand you makes everything better.  

Passions

I was officially discharged from my treatment program on Thursday.  Since then I have been somewhat busy doing things that are meaningful.  On Friday, I began my volunteer position at Inova Fairfax Hospital in the Pediatrics Unit.  My shift is on Friday from 1-5 pm.  So, for the first 2 hours or so I was oriented to the rules and responsibilities of volunteers.  The next few hours were spent touring the units that are encompassed by the term "Pediatrics."  The PICU, the general Pediatric Unit, and the Oncology/Hematology Unit are all included as well as the Adolescent wing on the 4th floor in the main tower.  Whoa!  Let's hope that when I return on Friday I don't get lost trying to find my way around the gigantic hospital.  Literally, it's gigantic!  I am able to separate cases that I work with from my personal "baggage."  For example, when I was an intern with Shelter House, I was able to view the cases as just that, cases.  I didn't get emotionally involved, but knew there was work to be done and that by being caught up in the tragedies of the situations, nothing would get done.  I've found the same applies to my volunteer position at Fairfax Hospital.  I see infants, toddlers, children, and teens with apparatus of all shapes and sizes attached to them, and yet I don't begin to cry and feel overwhelmed emotionally.  Instead I see children who need, for their healing process and wellbeing, to smile.  I have found a passion:  Working with children in the hospital.  I think I want to become a social worker in the hospital.

I was told today by a dear friend and mentor that I need to begin to stop dallying in the past and accept my life today and where it's headed.  I must admit that I have been depressed looking at where I know my life SHOULD be and what it COULD be.  It is time to accept that things probably won't work out as assigned by the "gods of social acceptance."  I won't finish school in 4 years and at the same school I started.  I won't be married by the time I'm 22, as Mormons tend to insist on.  I won't be living on my own by the time I'm 21.  And the list could go on and on and on.  Shel Silverstein's poem comes to mind:

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." 

Just because I'm not living my life as it SHOULD be or COULD be, doesn't mean I can't have a fulfilling life!  "Anything can be."

To catch up on something fun, last week Hanna, a dear friend from BYU, met me in Old Town Alexandria and we walked along the waterfront and down the brick-paved streets, occasionally stopping in a boutique here and an antique shop there.  Here's some pictures from the George Washington Masonic Memorial...

Don't you love the sun peaking through the clouds

 like "God Rays" as Hanna and I termed?

View of Old Town from the Masonic hill

Yay for Hanna and me!