I wish I could say I'm done with love.
I wish I could just let it go and not care.
I wish I could say I don't think about it.
Its a non issue.
But thats not me.
Not that I am obsessed with it.
But I think about it.
I'm good at long term, bad at short term. I don't do temporary well. I prefer to get the short game done and out of the way and move on to the long game. I'm good at that.
My last blog contained some memories of past love.
Don't worry old boyfriends wives, I'm not coming after your man.
There were moments that impacted me greatly and they are precious memories to me. Not all of them happy, many sad, but they shaped who I am today. That is a chapter closed.
Theres something to be said for that agony. Its delicious.
Your heart aches
You yearn
You talk for hours
You smile
You don't sleep
You agonize
You are torn up
You laugh
You cry
You are alive
You dream
You live poetry everyday
Its young love, and ever so often, it slowly ebbs to deep lasting commitment. Old love. Love that lingers. Love that is there when all the fireworks have faded. Love that makes you want to be better. Love that carries you through to the end. Love that knows. It just knows. That is the kind of love I would be down with.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
it looks like its that time again....
So two years ago I wrote a highlight of my life list.
I would like to share what two years older me feels are highlights.....
ok these are not in order
1 Still gotta say that water fight that ended with me sliding across the floor of the apartment. And Franziska's face when the glass shattered.
2 That night I went to a movie with a buddy of mine, it was horrible, it stands out in my head because it was such an awkward night. I got home and was like, weird. It still makes me laugh.
3 I like surprise parties. My 20th was fun. And overwhelming. I just broke up with a great guy. He was there. It was weird. We still don't speak.
4 Tammy and chocolate and milk and hiding from our roommates. I had a lot of roommates. You would hide too!
5 Franziska and her journals and her way of never making me feel that I am too weird to be her friend. She thinks I am funny, sometimes. And no matter the distance, we pick right back up where we left off.
6 Ok, I concede. That night where I "danced" with the guy I was "dating." Its been a day I wanted to forget. But it lives on. And now um 15ish years later. Its funny. I say "danced" because I refused to get within arms length of him so I made him stand across the room. I know. I was 17. I had my reasons.
7 I was saying good bye to this guy I was crazy about. And he asked me to stay. I should have stayed. I left. I should have left. We will never know. But it was a bitter sweet moment. And the deeply buried poet in me loves the agony of that moment. Because the friend I left to go see ditched me for a guy. Oh the Irony.
8 Sarah almost falling into the river and Dad pulling her out.
9 Sarah hiding on the floor of the truck so no one would see her in the truck I was driving.
10 Sarah telling Paul a story about the shapes of clouds as we drove to the farm.
11 The Miclette Family and the things we have shared. And my missing shoes.
12 Finding out my personality type and understanding that there is a reason.
13 That night I had 7 cups of coffee and could not open the car door as I was too hyper
14 That night a friend called me out on stuff. It was hard but a wake up call. And so glad he did.
15 The day I realized I was smart. And that being smart was not just getting good grades in school.
16 The day I made it to Hamilton. The first day I got my stick shift car. Sure the farm trucks were stick. But lets face it, my sister hid on the floor when I drove.
17 My first trip to the grocery store in Ontario alone. You go to the store in Leader and then look at one in a city and then come talk to me. You would be terrified too.
18 Camping. Any time. Except when it rained, and the back up plan failed. and coffee took two hours. That was bad.
19 That night at Port when Danielle's band played. With candles. yeah.
20 That night I realized I had to give up my kids. They were old enough and I needed to let them go. I cried. A lot.
21 Playing music. There are two times etched in my mind when the band I played with hit this amazing groove while jamming. They were really really amazing jam sessions. One was at least 16 years ago. It was that good.
22 knowing I can do ANY job. and most likely have.
23 being able to say no. and actually doing it. Gives me a thrill. I know. Its weird.
24 My dog. She had a great personality.
25 Driving across the country. Canada is beautiful. Just not at 5 AM
26 Braving winter, this morning I was thinking it wasn't so bad. I take it back.
27 Going on missions trips. Life changing.
28 Reviewing my friendships over this past year. Its been a year. And I have some pretty amazing friends. Who won't let me do this alone :) You know who you are.
29 Kids.
30 Kids. That was an intentional repeat.
31 That year my friends let me pick the movie because it was my birthday. They later regretted that decision.
32 I'm still here. I'm home. I am surrounded by people who love me. I'm happy. I have an iphone. I have a great summer lined up. I love my job. My family. My brother. Finding myself all over again. Love.
Thanks for being part of the journey.
I would like to share what two years older me feels are highlights.....
ok these are not in order
1 Still gotta say that water fight that ended with me sliding across the floor of the apartment. And Franziska's face when the glass shattered.
2 That night I went to a movie with a buddy of mine, it was horrible, it stands out in my head because it was such an awkward night. I got home and was like, weird. It still makes me laugh.
3 I like surprise parties. My 20th was fun. And overwhelming. I just broke up with a great guy. He was there. It was weird. We still don't speak.
4 Tammy and chocolate and milk and hiding from our roommates. I had a lot of roommates. You would hide too!
5 Franziska and her journals and her way of never making me feel that I am too weird to be her friend. She thinks I am funny, sometimes. And no matter the distance, we pick right back up where we left off.
6 Ok, I concede. That night where I "danced" with the guy I was "dating." Its been a day I wanted to forget. But it lives on. And now um 15ish years later. Its funny. I say "danced" because I refused to get within arms length of him so I made him stand across the room. I know. I was 17. I had my reasons.
7 I was saying good bye to this guy I was crazy about. And he asked me to stay. I should have stayed. I left. I should have left. We will never know. But it was a bitter sweet moment. And the deeply buried poet in me loves the agony of that moment. Because the friend I left to go see ditched me for a guy. Oh the Irony.
8 Sarah almost falling into the river and Dad pulling her out.
9 Sarah hiding on the floor of the truck so no one would see her in the truck I was driving.
10 Sarah telling Paul a story about the shapes of clouds as we drove to the farm.
11 The Miclette Family and the things we have shared. And my missing shoes.
12 Finding out my personality type and understanding that there is a reason.
13 That night I had 7 cups of coffee and could not open the car door as I was too hyper
14 That night a friend called me out on stuff. It was hard but a wake up call. And so glad he did.
15 The day I realized I was smart. And that being smart was not just getting good grades in school.
16 The day I made it to Hamilton. The first day I got my stick shift car. Sure the farm trucks were stick. But lets face it, my sister hid on the floor when I drove.
17 My first trip to the grocery store in Ontario alone. You go to the store in Leader and then look at one in a city and then come talk to me. You would be terrified too.
18 Camping. Any time. Except when it rained, and the back up plan failed. and coffee took two hours. That was bad.
19 That night at Port when Danielle's band played. With candles. yeah.
20 That night I realized I had to give up my kids. They were old enough and I needed to let them go. I cried. A lot.
21 Playing music. There are two times etched in my mind when the band I played with hit this amazing groove while jamming. They were really really amazing jam sessions. One was at least 16 years ago. It was that good.
22 knowing I can do ANY job. and most likely have.
23 being able to say no. and actually doing it. Gives me a thrill. I know. Its weird.
24 My dog. She had a great personality.
25 Driving across the country. Canada is beautiful. Just not at 5 AM
26 Braving winter, this morning I was thinking it wasn't so bad. I take it back.
27 Going on missions trips. Life changing.
28 Reviewing my friendships over this past year. Its been a year. And I have some pretty amazing friends. Who won't let me do this alone :) You know who you are.
29 Kids.
30 Kids. That was an intentional repeat.
31 That year my friends let me pick the movie because it was my birthday. They later regretted that decision.
32 I'm still here. I'm home. I am surrounded by people who love me. I'm happy. I have an iphone. I have a great summer lined up. I love my job. My family. My brother. Finding myself all over again. Love.
Thanks for being part of the journey.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
When it all comes down to this.
So recently my life has taken a turn for, let's call it " did that just happen".
It's a place. Look it up. It started 6 years ago. When this guy who chased me for 3 years finally scored a real date out of me. A year later we married. I noticed odd little things when we dated. He randomly would just get really impossible or silent and just, off. It was winter. He hated his job. No biggie. That can give anyone the blues. I knew the guy for three years, i was not really worried. Then when we were engaged more stuff crept up. Weddings are stressful. Ask anyone. So about 6 months into the marriage. I knew. Something was wrong with my husband and best friend. We started the journey of dealing with mental illness. It's been a bumpy ride. One day to the next you never know who you are going to get or why. Why he was mad or was happy. What would set him off. What would calm him down. What made him blue or put him into a dark cloud. The bad days his eyes would go black. Some days you could just see the pain radiating through those eyes. And there is no cookie, cake or back rub that will fix it. Some days my old Ben would come back. Sometimes it would take weeks. My Ben would stick around for a bit. Never sure how long it would be so you soak up all the time you had. You never know when the black comes back. The meds helped. Over the years there was that 3-4 month sweet spot where there would be a couple weeks of my old Ben. And then he was gone. So. I worked. I worked a lot. Work I could control. Work I could understand. And work made money.
Turns out in the end you spend all that time building and one last storm, can finish off 9 years in one final blast.
5 months ago I realized this was no longer ok. Ben was not ok. I was not ok. We were not ok. I could work all the hours I could physically handle, shoulder every responsibility, require nothing of him save to just get through the day, and it still was not enough. It had to stop. When you are married just for the sake of staying together even though you know the marriage is killing your partner, what do you do? Do you offer yourself up on the proverbial chopping block? Keep fighting for something that died long ago? You are emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted. There is no end in sight. What do you do? You have waited, begged, pleaded, stayed silent and waited some more. You have cried till the tears ran dry more times than you care to remember. But it does not change. I'm left confused, lost and exhausted.
And suddenly. You know.
That bad feeling you had is real.
You lost...
Now what?
So, to be clear. Ben and I are no longer together.
Will not be getting back together.
This did not happen because of Ben's mental health issues. I had other reasons for this, and yes, I do have a limit as to what I share online. This one is personal.
What I am saying is Mental Illness did play a large part of our day to day lives. And I am including my side of this because in my search for help I have not seen many spouses post how they cope. I see a lot of spouses look for help when its too late. When they are caught in the endless cycle.
If you deal with a spouse who deals with depression, my heart goes out to you. Deal with it. It will not go away. Resentment will build, you will start to see your life slowly fade away. It will happen so slowly you will not even see it coming. Meds and therapy. Do it. Lots of therapy. Therapy for the caretaker spouse, depression leads to isolation. Which feels like rejection. You need to deal with that. Caretaker spouse, you need to keep your life, hobby and interests active. Broke people cannot help broke people. The depressed spouse needs therapy, meds help but the brain needs to be retrained on how to process social and life situations. Coping skills learnt. If kids involved, they need to understand that the depressed parent does love them. Address the issue, deal and move on.
This is my new year creed.
Address. Deal. Move on.
Life is too short for any more wasted time. I would like to include a website I personally found helpful for myself. A lot of it is sad, its families dealing with depression. But if you are dealing with this, I recommend taking off the rose coloured glasses and address the situation. http://foreverfamilies.byu.edu/Article.aspx?a=153
I'm aware I'm cheesy, corny, and a little unbalanced. What is the alternative? I chose to see the amusing and weird side of life, just a little bit of spice. The alternative is too sad. Depressing. Pathetic. I'm not going to allow the crappy parts of my life to dictate where my future lies. Sure it's crappy.
But sometimes it takes the crap to see how good the best is.
My best is damn good, baby.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
My name is...
My middle name is Joy.
Drove me nuts. I was not always a joyful person. I hated being reminded that Joy was my name and I needed to start acting like that.
I hated Joy.
I had no idea what Joy was. Joy was unattainable. Joy was irritating. and Joy had to go.
I tried changing my name. Did not go over well. Clearly.
It was suggested that maybe I should figure out what true Joy was. So I did some studying.
Joy did not mean that I was happy all the time.
Joy did not mean that I was ok with things happening in my day.
Joy did not mean that there was something wrong with me if I was not happy all day every day.
To me, Joy is the underlying factor. Like that crazy strong carpenters glue. It holds it all together.
I used to have a lot of very dark days. I still have the occasional one. But when I feel them start I have a choice.
1. Have a very bad day.
2. Address what is causing the "dark" day. Why are you depressed?
3. What can you do to change this? Have I been eating right? Drinking liquids other than coffee? Exercising?
4. Am I going to let this ruin the rest of my day.
You gotta pick one and commit to it. The day will end and you will not get it back. So how are you going to handle it?
Do you know that eventually the situation will work out? Yes
Do you know that Jesus still loves you? Yes
Can you do anything to fix this now? Yes or No If so, do it. If not, move on.
Look for the positive and the humorous. There is something funny in every situation. You have to look for it. Sometimes for a long time. Sometimes its a sarcastic humor.
But Joy is a choice. and a trusting and relying and knowing that God's got your back.
And tomorrow will be another day.
And hey, in a couple years this will be a really great story.
Hello, Please to meet you. My name is Rebecca Joy.
Drove me nuts. I was not always a joyful person. I hated being reminded that Joy was my name and I needed to start acting like that.
I hated Joy.
I had no idea what Joy was. Joy was unattainable. Joy was irritating. and Joy had to go.
I tried changing my name. Did not go over well. Clearly.
It was suggested that maybe I should figure out what true Joy was. So I did some studying.
Joy did not mean that I was happy all the time.
Joy did not mean that I was ok with things happening in my day.
Joy did not mean that there was something wrong with me if I was not happy all day every day.
To me, Joy is the underlying factor. Like that crazy strong carpenters glue. It holds it all together.
I used to have a lot of very dark days. I still have the occasional one. But when I feel them start I have a choice.
1. Have a very bad day.
2. Address what is causing the "dark" day. Why are you depressed?
3. What can you do to change this? Have I been eating right? Drinking liquids other than coffee? Exercising?
4. Am I going to let this ruin the rest of my day.
You gotta pick one and commit to it. The day will end and you will not get it back. So how are you going to handle it?
Do you know that eventually the situation will work out? Yes
Do you know that Jesus still loves you? Yes
Can you do anything to fix this now? Yes or No If so, do it. If not, move on.
Look for the positive and the humorous. There is something funny in every situation. You have to look for it. Sometimes for a long time. Sometimes its a sarcastic humor.
But Joy is a choice. and a trusting and relying and knowing that God's got your back.
And tomorrow will be another day.
And hey, in a couple years this will be a really great story.
Hello, Please to meet you. My name is Rebecca Joy.
fighting like hell
Seeing as we are surrounded by so high a witness let us set aside every weight and every sin and run with patience the race that is set before us.
Every notice when someone runs a race they train for it, get ready, psych up, get pumped, go through all these motions to train for....the race.
Life is like a race.
We are surrounded by our cheerleaders, heavenly, spiritual, and physical.
We face hurdles. We face challenges .
Sometimes the training session does not go well. We don't get the right frame of mind for the race.
The shoes don't fit right. We ate a bad sandwich and its totally affecting the metabolic process.
But does the race stop?
Or do you keep going.
And fight like hell to stay in the race?
I'm in the fighting like hell stage. I've rounded that bend,you know the bad one where you get a cramp and you just can't go on. You see all your cheerleaders on the side cheering and yelling you on, and you pull on every ounce of your being to pick up your feet and keep going.
Fight Becky Fight.
Your worth it.
you deserve to win
you deserve the best
FIGHT!!!!
Every notice when someone runs a race they train for it, get ready, psych up, get pumped, go through all these motions to train for....the race.
Life is like a race.
We are surrounded by our cheerleaders, heavenly, spiritual, and physical.
We face hurdles. We face challenges .
Sometimes the training session does not go well. We don't get the right frame of mind for the race.
The shoes don't fit right. We ate a bad sandwich and its totally affecting the metabolic process.
But does the race stop?
Or do you keep going.
And fight like hell to stay in the race?
I'm in the fighting like hell stage. I've rounded that bend,you know the bad one where you get a cramp and you just can't go on. You see all your cheerleaders on the side cheering and yelling you on, and you pull on every ounce of your being to pick up your feet and keep going.
Fight Becky Fight.
Your worth it.
you deserve to win
you deserve the best
FIGHT!!!!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
now what
So some thoughts from today.
Boys are crazy! Ever sat and watched a group of boys? It's like watching a bunch of wiggling worms. Or newborn puppies. They never stop moving.
So.
In my quest for divaness I think I need to set ground rules.
How far is too far?
What should I demand respect on?
What are my limits?
Boys are crazy! Ever sat and watched a group of boys? It's like watching a bunch of wiggling worms. Or newborn puppies. They never stop moving.
So.
In my quest for divaness I think I need to set ground rules.
How far is too far?
What should I demand respect on?
What are my limits?
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
My Inner Diva
So recently I've been doing a lot of thinking.
Lots of changes in my crazy life and I've been evaluating what makes me make the decisions I've made.
I don't regret a lot in my life. Some decisions were good some bad but all led me to learn things and meet some amazing people along the way.
And learn a lot about myself.
And some things I could have handled differently.
I've ranted a few times about my difficulty with being a "woman". And I've come to some conclusions. About being a woman.
Its unavoidable. So I may as well deal with it. Here's my story.
I like the background. Its safe, no one notices you there.
You can work quietly and no one bothers you. See that's also the problem. Its lonely. And well....sigh....I'm a closet diva. Through my own actions of hiding and putting myself in a box I've given people permission to pass me over, look down on me, take me for granted and take advantage of me. I used to think any attention was positive attention. At least someone noticed me.
Well.
Not any more.
I'm worth so much more.
I'm not saying I'm going to start marching around demanding attention, but I think I'm getting this whole woman thing figured out. And I may be a bit of a girly girl drama queen. I'm still figuring it out. But I won't take crap. I will be treated with respect. I'm not a maid. I'm not a pushover. I'm valuable. And I'm not taking the garbage out anymore. It wrecks my nails.
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