Keeping It Real

I love blogging about fashion and beauty so much, but I need to stop for a sec and write a lifestyle post. Why? Because I’m tired, oh so very tired, tired like a junkyard. See how tired I am? That simile sucked!

Being a new Mom is tough sometimes and things are rather hectic around here these days. (Am I wearing clothes right now? Okay. Good). I just want to be real for a moment and give a shout-out to all of the people in the world who have some sort of craziness going on (I call if “life”) and tell you, you’re not alone!

In fact, life is ever-changing and crazy all the time. Sometimes with things you adore – like a new baby, a promotion, moving to your dream home, meeting your soul mate, learning who you are, etc. However, life can also throw you some real curve balls like the death of a close friend, a family member who quits speaking to you for no reason, a pet getting sick, the loss of a job, not getting into the college you wanted, breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, having major health challenges – the list of hurt is endless. I must admit I’ve had a few of the things on both lists happen to me personally and I used to think, “Wow that’s awesome!!!” or “How am I going to get through this?”. But nowadays I know that each and every situation is just there. Things aren’t really good or bad in the end.

By now you might be thinking, “Okay Joelle is really tired. She truly does need some sleep. Should I personally be coming over there to look after her baby so she can get some much-needed rest?” And I would answer, “Sure!!! The line forms to the right of me. C’mon over!” But before you volunteer, (and I REALLY hope you do 😉 ) let me explain.

I’ve had something I thought was good – a promotion at my job. I was so excited because I had the big desk in the biggest office and was making the most money I ever had in my entire life. But the long hours, extra work, and stress came with it too and before long I started to become VERY ill. So ill in fact that I ended up not just losing the promotion, but also losing my job. I felt empty and unimportant. I didn’t realize that my job was my identity, and when I lost it, I lost me. It took me an entire year to become healthy again, but I have never forgotten the lessons I learned from the experience. So I guess it turned out badly after all, right?

Wrong! Out of the chaos of my job loss, when I was busy healing a doctor discovered another major health problem that if left untreated I could have been paralyzed eventually. Now if it weren’t for the promotion (good thing), and me getting sick and losing my job (bad thing), then I wouldn’t have discovered a health problem that would’ve messed me up later on (good thing). Are you with me so far? I hope so. But there’s more!

I started treatment for the new problem and unfortunately I got worse  and started blacking out all the time (bad thing). Over the course of two years I FINALLY started getting better slowly each day and stopped blacking out and felt wonderful (good thing). Then the doctor treated me passed away and I started going back to how I was before (bad thing)…

Am I just stating the obvious each time I type good thing or bad thing after an obvious good or bad thing or am I doing this for a reason? I am doing this for a reason.

Count each time I typed good thing. It’s okay. I’ll wait.

Now count each time I typed bad thing.

Notice anything? Yes the amount of times is three for each and the story isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. You see, it always goes back and forth and only ends when you die. This applies to pretty much everything, even blogging! The other day one of my favourite fashion bloggers “J” from J’s Everyday Fashions wrote about both her good and bad experiences in the fashion blogging world. There was her happiness of helping others and the hurt of others lashing out at her. Through it all the good and bad things co-existed and some things which she thought were good turned bad and then back to good. So to all of my fellow bloggers: be thankful for the good things because they might not stay and please. please, please don’t let the bad things get you down.

To see the Chinese proverb that inspired my post click here.