Who do I still think I am??

This one's about life and serendipity.

30DBC PROMPT: Earl's June 9th Prompt  , courtesy of 30DBC Creator/Founder (Note: Earl's link will take you away from WDC).

What's good, y'all? Lots to get to this evening, so if you don't mind I'm gonna have right at it.

Our man Earl wrote a stellar entry on his personal/business website, based on the premise of I Can. I Will. End Of Story. The anecdotes he drops between the inspirational splices of his poetry are insightful and lead a beautiful path through a thick forest...picture a large cornfield where the owner has trimmed a maze into it in the shape of something (you can see examples here   and here  ) you can't quite see from the surface but from a distance becomes much clearer. In the true spirit of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 's Follow Me round, what comes next is where Earl's words have led me.

In life, we're responsible first and foremost for our own health, happiness, and well-being. It's nice to have the luxury of being able to count on others for help, comfort, laughter, and togetherness...but sometimes that's not possible; we're human beings after all, and we're prone to letting others down just as much as we're liable to be disappointed at times. When there is no hero, or no friends, it's just you and your thoughts. Your soul. Whether it's just a moment's worth of peaceful reflection or an emergency situation that can't be put off, you have to find a way to seize positive momentum and move forward through whatever's holding you back as best you can.

It can be easy allowing ourselves to get caught up in bleak moments and troubled times, especially when it seems like they're not letting up. I think we've all been there at some point. If you can honestly say you've never faced adversity in your life, close this browser window, pat yourself on the back, and GTFO ya frickin' liar, because you know you've had to come out from behind somethin' at least once. It could be someone telling you you're not capable of doing something, or lacking in physical means to accomplish something, or you're just stuck in a spot where you can't easily get out of...being able to look back and say, "Well, I've had it worse before..." is one way of reaffirming your strength. Once you're back on solid ground, you can use that gained confidence to help someone else who might be in the same place you were, even if there was nobody to give you a hand.

I know it seems so obvious, but it's often overlooked. We're only here for so long, and we spend so much of that time fighting for positions and working against each other before we realize we'd make better teammates than enemies. And that's just with the rest of society...how many times have you felt like you were competing with a spouse or a friend or a loved one, when in reality you should've been on equal footing working toward the same goal? We don't get as many opportunities as we think; before we know it, there's another pitfall or obstacle or milestone (or gravestone). There's no shortage of wasted time in the past, but there's no sense in letting that ruin the present and the future with the "What if's". I know it sounds so cliché, but it's true every day that today is the first day of the rest of your life, and life is what you make of it, and so on.

I'm not a motivational speaker nor a model citizen. I'm just a guy with a blog who's seen a lot of things and done a lot of stuff, and somehow manages to write coherently about it once in awhile.

BCF PROMPT: "Use the word serendipity in a poem or story."

As I mentioned yesterday, I don't believe I've ever used the word serendipity in casual conversation, formal conversation, blogging, or anywhere else before. It's just not a go-to word for me, and I don't know why it's not, because it sounds like it'd be a fun word to say. Even if it does conjure up images of trashy Harlequin romance novels from the seventies and eighties. I'm not even sure if I'm saying it right (in my head at least...I'm not gonna go knocking on my neighbor's door all like "Hey, ummm, how do you pronounce this word?" with serendipity written on an index card). Is it "surrend-dippity" like "surrender" and "Doo Dah Dippity"  , or is it "saer-en-deh-pity" as in "rhymes with Serengeti"? I don't even know, so I'm gonna see what Google says...

Guess I was sorta right...Dictionary.com's definition   says it's "ser-uhn-dip-i-tee", which kinda meets me halfway. And I was hella off on what it really means versus what I think of when I hear it..."1) an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident; 2) good fortune; luck; 3) the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident." Wow. Glad I didn't try to get all fiction-y with a story, because that would've been embarrassing...although I'm sure many people (please, no show of hands, thank you) have found certain romantic encounters leaning toward the erotic side to have been "serendipitous" before. I have, but I never would've called it that (no offense, "serendipity").

I'm not even gonna attempt a poem...normally I'd be able to freestyle at least a little bit of somethin', but my head's not on the line and typically I have even the slightest bit of understanding beforehand what the word really means as opposed to going through however many years of life silently believing it to be one thing only to find out five minutes ago it doesn't quite mean the same thing. Dear language, you've won again, but I'll get you next time...<insert evil laugh here>.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I think this about sums it up: Life > Not Life. I don't like to bring math lessons into writing things, but I can make an exception for today's purposes.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

Well, I had a check-up on my ankle today. The nurse asked me how it was and stuff, so I told her where it hurts when I do therapy and how bad. She asked if I'd gone for blood work regarding an arthritis scan because she couldn't find the results, and I said I had. The doc came in and was all like "No swelling! Bends at 30 degrees! Looks great! See ya in six months! You can go back to work. If it still bothers you, there's not much more I can do for you. You're gonna have to get through it. Continue your PT. Would you like a splint for it?" He doesn't leave much room to get a word in, and the way he asked me about the splint you'd think he was givin' out lollipops. I'm not entirely happy because I can't obviously wear the splint at PT, and I still don't have the strength or confidence in the joint to treat it like I normally would beat on it a normal person would. We'll see. If I can get through PT this week then I won't be as worried about getting cleared to go back to work...but if it swells up like it's been doing afterwards and feels tender and crunchy the next day, I'm gonna have concerns.

Anyway, I called up CAPCO   and let my supervisor there know I'm medically cleared and will be able to come back starting next week...too many things already going on this week to add that to the mix. She's a hard person to figure out. Seems super nice, but I get the feeling like she'd be just as thrilled if I'd not called her and told her I'd be able to come back ever. I'mma try not to think deeply about that.

I always miss the cool stuff. While I was cashing out at the supermarket today, a car drove through the front window of the adjacent Dollar Tree store next door (or about 10 feet from where I'd be waiting for the bus). Because no one was seriously hurt, I don't feel bad making jokes about it. There were no news crews there and only one cop car, even though there was significant damage to the building. In Buffalo. the World Capital Of Drivers Crashing Into Buildings   (no seriously, it is  ), it's the rare occurrence where something (old people hitting buildings with cars) happens so often, yet you're never desensitized to it (and more often amused by it, if anything...unlike, say, murder). It made me kinda miss WNY a little more.

Success! Sorta. I did manage to fall asleep fairly quickly last night, and I slept almost all the way through the night...plus, I actually needed my alarm to go off for me to get up this morning, which has been quite the rarity lately. And it's 11pm now, which is past my bedtime, so I'll probably need to set the alarm again for PT tomorrow. I know, I know, bedtime, right? What am I? The...wait for it...

The Six Year Old Me
never stayed up past 8:30pm.

I don't think I've gone to bed before 11 as often in my twenties and thirties as I have since I turned 37 or 38. But that's life, right? I guess. Anyway, I'm gonna clear outta here, proof this, and catch up with the rest of you cats tomorrow. Peace, it's waiting for you, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!