“Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.” ~ Mary Holloway

Yes, it’s been a wee bit since I posted last.

Things have been busy in our household with unexpected surprises around every corner.

My question today (after the week I’ve had) is this:

When someone states something as fact, but you could possibly change the outcome, do you put forth the effort to do so, or do you accept their statement as fact, hang your head in defeat and move on without even trying to make a change?

Earlier this week, I received a phone call which could have changed not only my life, but also have far reaching effects on four other people in the household. My mind started working on two planes: one on the premise that if this was fact, I had things to do before it occurred. The other on the premise that if I could change this outcome, I would do everything in my power to do so.

Plane A: began getting things together should this event occur, making needed phone calls

Plane B: began planning and gathering information, made the most important phone call.

These planes were happening simultaneously – on one level I was on autopilot, on the other I was trying to remain calm. While I was not going to actively (or stupidly) interfere with the original premise . . . neither was I going to allow the actions to happen without a fight.

Needless to say, my phone call and information paid off. Always keep a paper trail of your correspondence, and jot down names, dates and times if corresponding by phone. Four hours after I received the initial phone call, the tables had been turned and those who thought they were in control of the situation, lost control. Dogged persistence, resilience, the ability to move quickly and decisively – combined with a team of professionals who believed in not just myself but my beliefs and my ideals, we started on a path of new beginnings.

As I was relaying the story, however, several people wrongly assumed that the initial phone call determined the end results.

Helloooooooo? Ummmm . . . .no. The initiation of the story does NOT always correctly reflect the ending.

It was the same with my cancer diagnosis. My first words were, “Yeah . . . no . . . that doesn’t work for me.”

I was told I couldn’t run after a knee replacement. “Yeah . . . no . . . that doesn’t work for me.”

So when I received the call stating that there were going to be major changes, turning lives upside down. “HELL NO . . . that doesn’t work for me.”