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You Have Been Seated In An Exit Row

I live in a curious, thought inspired bubble, where I practice the art of shutting out unnecessary negativity and acting as a positive influencer on those around me. I aim to be happy and make those around me feel warm and positive. Despite all of my best efforts there are times where worry does rear its ugly head into my atmosphere of peace. In my first 38 years of life I waffled between constant planning in avoidance of any potential disruption (sadness, pain, injury, loss - you name it) and constant worry about my lack of power over the unknown.  After a careful reflection on the experiences in my life to date - many of which I worried powerlessly over at some point - I shifted my gaze toward the sun and acknowledged that I am a survivor.

Not every person gets the opportunity to rescue someone from a burning building in his or her lifetime, but every person faces challenges that require us to put our worry aside, be in the moment, and make clear decisions. If you have a family and/or children many of these decisions are made for the sake of their safety or well being. I have been responsible for both good and bad decisions made on behalf of my son and I. In one stroke I both protected him from the harm of one person while positioning him to experience the pain of seeing his mother being hurt by another. I've evacuated us from a storm and lost all of my worldly possessions, had a gun held to my head, escaped abuse, had zero money, been separated from my family and support system, felt stranded in a foreign country, battled depression, and survived a potentially fatal accident. But here I am, doing more than just surviving.

I have often isolated all of these trying events as their own unique challenges until recently. While listening to the flight attendants during my recent travels I connected the dots between life's most challenging times, and the importance of living in the moment and simply being prepared to do whatever it takes despite the fact that what lies ahead is largely unknown. After all, if we knew what all of our challenges would be then wouldn't we simply try to avoid them? What would be missing from our lives now if we avoided all challenges on our path? Who would we be if that were the case; how resilient would we be?

You have been seated in an exit row and may be required to open this exit in the event of an emergency.

Are you just going get off the flight, missing the sight of those fluffy clouds or the glow of the moonlight at 35,000 feet on the journey to your next destination? Or, will you commit to getting off your ass, pulling it together, and opening the door if and when the time comes? Either you will realize at some point that none of us control all of the events of our present or future and must embrace the gift each day brings, or you will live in a vacuum void of color. How sad to live without the passion that comes with our secret knowledge that we can live beautifully and are capable of conquering the unknown - without allowing worry to steal your joy!

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