Well of Strength

What a cah-ray-zee couple of days!  By far, yesterday was one of the most stressful days of my existence.  For realz...I know oftentimes I overexaggerate (okay, maybe all the time), but this is no joke. 

So, Tuesday night we lose power.  A pretty major storm (by Chi standards) ripped through the North/Northwest side, and in it's wake, left thousands of people without power.  On the up side, there were no fatalities, only a bunch of grumpy peeps without any electricity - us included.  Yesterday morning I woke up at the crack ass to be at the doctor by 6:30am.  Fun!  The appt in and of itself was stressful enough to give an elephant heart palpitations, but then to return home to start working (I worked from home yesterday), to find out that it was unlikely power would be restored anytime soon.  As such, yours truly managed to get a generator hooked up (thanks Rena & Danny), whilst working and running around like a complete a-hole in the dark.  As of noon yesterday, we had minimal light and power to the fridge.  Success.  By the time 5 pm rolled around and I signed off for the day, I was ready to have a nervous breakdown.  Not only was I absolutes beat as a result of my day-from-hell, I was not feeling all warm and fuzzy to the not-so-loving husband as a result of a teensy tinesy argument we had the night before.  So, I called one of my true blue besties, Kiki, to vent.

I was overwhelmed and while I can honestly say I did not feel "sorry" for myself, I was sad because I was scared.  I am scared.  There is so much requiring my strength and only so much of it to go around.  What if I can't deal?  What if I can't cope?  What if, what if?

Then I thought of so many people I have the privilege of knowing and calling friends.  People who I vow to think about and draw strength from when I'm fearful that I won't be able to face the unknown.  I will think of my dear friend Amber who I honestly think is the strongest person I know, or my newest pal Billie who seems to be a kindred spirit.  My pal JJ who knows me sometimes better than I know myself, and understands what "unfairness" is all about.  Or Kiki who is my encouragement when I seem to have lost it for myself.  My bestie Rena is the strongest single mother I know with the hugest heart and a fearless attitude, and mostly, my sister, whose strength is limitless and who reminds me, when things are at it's bleakest, to look to a higher power and live one day at a time.  I will look to tomorrow and meet it with all I've got; all of the amazing women I look to for strength who have done it in their own life, whatever their story, and I draw strength and inspiration from them.

So, I will prevail.  Things are already looking up - the power was restored last night during dinner and after we celebrated electricity, I went to bed early to catch some much needed z's.  I scheduled myself for a massage after work tonight and will be calling the salon to get in for a touch up this weekend.  Like Kiki says, what good is it to get through the challenges in life if we don't learn from them?  So, learn I will, and along the way, I'll remind myself of all you who have set the standard.