Doing okay
The past year was a difficult one on a lot of levels.
I hit the bottom of a deep depression, and my inability to deal with it sparked some really poor behavior on my part. Fortunately my household was supportive in spite of how I treated them, and they gave me a chance to right my ship and regain their trust. I appear to have been successful and am working hard to keep it, and in the end we have all learned about our habits, proclivities, and communication styles and needs. So far so good, and that part of my life is doing well.
We lost both of our older dogs, Max and Misha, to aging - within 3 months of each other. I held each of them as they departed, and though I would certainly do it again it was hard. As fortune had it we soon re-dogged the house with Cosmo and Sasha, who helped us all recover quickly from our grief. Their presence has been an annoyance (puppies do chew and poop to remarkable extents sometimes) but much more so they have been a joy and a balm, and we loves them, we do. That part of my life is doing well.
I was laid off last June at a rather terrible time for us financially. Had to sell off some stuff to make the mortgage, screwed over my credit rating due to poor advice from my bank, barely kept things afloat with the help of family and friends and short contract jobs, and started really worrying about the future last month. We used all - and I do mean pretty much all - of our buffer funds, and would be doing a massive frantic sell-off right now if I had not by dint of diligence and good fortune found a job. I started last week, and it's a great position with some real possibilities for growth working with people I like within my industry, and though things are still tight for us and will continue to be so for some time, that part of my life is doing well.
There are more stories, but those are the big ones. I nearly lost everything I've worked for in more than one area of my life over the past year, and sometimes it was scary as heck. Perspective helped some; there are those in the world (a distressingly large part of it, if I'm honest) and even among people I know who frankly had it worse, and my heart goes out to them - and I will help them whenever I can. Many other things made a difference: a bit of luck, the forbearance of my sweeties, the generosity of my family, actually paying attention to my reactions to life and what I can learn from them (once my head was out of my arse) and even a bit of better living through chemistry (thanks, Wellbutrin, though I hated your major side effect) that helped me break my depression cycle.
So finally it all comes down to this: my life is doing pretty well. And significantly, I am no longer taking it for granted... or at least, I'm doing better at not doing so.
Big thanks to everyone who tolerated me in spite of my idiocy, who gave me a chance even when they were angry, who loved me even when I seemed distant, and who smiled to see me raise my head at last and approach my life with honesty, confidence, and genuine pleasure for the first time in too long.
Now on to paying it forward.
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote
I hit the bottom of a deep depression, and my inability to deal with it sparked some really poor behavior on my part. Fortunately my household was supportive in spite of how I treated them, and they gave me a chance to right my ship and regain their trust. I appear to have been successful and am working hard to keep it, and in the end we have all learned about our habits, proclivities, and communication styles and needs. So far so good, and that part of my life is doing well.
We lost both of our older dogs, Max and Misha, to aging - within 3 months of each other. I held each of them as they departed, and though I would certainly do it again it was hard. As fortune had it we soon re-dogged the house with Cosmo and Sasha, who helped us all recover quickly from our grief. Their presence has been an annoyance (puppies do chew and poop to remarkable extents sometimes) but much more so they have been a joy and a balm, and we loves them, we do. That part of my life is doing well.
I was laid off last June at a rather terrible time for us financially. Had to sell off some stuff to make the mortgage, screwed over my credit rating due to poor advice from my bank, barely kept things afloat with the help of family and friends and short contract jobs, and started really worrying about the future last month. We used all - and I do mean pretty much all - of our buffer funds, and would be doing a massive frantic sell-off right now if I had not by dint of diligence and good fortune found a job. I started last week, and it's a great position with some real possibilities for growth working with people I like within my industry, and though things are still tight for us and will continue to be so for some time, that part of my life is doing well.
There are more stories, but those are the big ones. I nearly lost everything I've worked for in more than one area of my life over the past year, and sometimes it was scary as heck. Perspective helped some; there are those in the world (a distressingly large part of it, if I'm honest) and even among people I know who frankly had it worse, and my heart goes out to them - and I will help them whenever I can. Many other things made a difference: a bit of luck, the forbearance of my sweeties, the generosity of my family, actually paying attention to my reactions to life and what I can learn from them (once my head was out of my arse) and even a bit of better living through chemistry (thanks, Wellbutrin, though I hated your major side effect) that helped me break my depression cycle.
So finally it all comes down to this: my life is doing pretty well. And significantly, I am no longer taking it for granted... or at least, I'm doing better at not doing so.
Big thanks to everyone who tolerated me in spite of my idiocy, who gave me a chance even when they were angry, who loved me even when I seemed distant, and who smiled to see me raise my head at last and approach my life with honesty, confidence, and genuine pleasure for the first time in too long.
Now on to paying it forward.
Light and laughter,
SongCoyote