Five Muscle-Building Struggles

It's Friday yet again.  Another week and another list of "five."  Has this been a tough week for you?  It's been a bit of a grinder for me this week.  Yet I'm reminded of one of my mother's favorite sayings that goes something like this:  "We fall to rise, we sleep to wake, are baffled to fight better..." from a poem by Kipling.  We can't all have sunshine and lollipop weeks but we can learn from our struggles.  So here are five things that I've been struggling with this past week.

1.  Saying "goodbye" yet again to my son and his family.  We had a wonderful two weeks together here but now they are back in Texas where they'll remain at least until the new baby arrives.  I hate saying goodbye but have to remind myself that you can't say "Great to see you again" unless you've first said "Good-bye."  Therefore I shall concentrate on the anticipation of our next visit together.

Photo courtesy of Photos8.com

2.  Feeling relieved that we missed the terrible storm damage but yet, strangely guilty.  It's a  paradox, isn't it?  I feel happy that we did NOT get hit with those horrible storms and tornadoes that ravaged other parts of the country and, indeed, other areas of our state.  Yet, I feel rather guilty for being happy since so many others have had their lives turned upside down by these events of the past week.  I've encountered this feeling before but in connection with cancer, when I've heard of acquaintances who have lost the battle with cancer while being grateful that I'm still here.  I think it's called "survivor guilt."

Photo courtesy of  Photos8.com

3.  I've been struggling with the idea of how much of our lives we waste just "waiting" on things to occur.  It seems like there is always some goal or event that I'm "looking forward" to.  Usually it goes like this in my mind. "I can't WAIT for the time when I can (you fill in the blanks).  Or "I can't WAIT for (xxxxx) to happen."   If I put half the energy into the here and now that I put into biding time, I might actually accomplish something.  I don't want to be one of those people who gets to the end of their life and suddenly realizes that they never really did much living.

4.  I've been struggling with how old I'm looking.  Gee, when I saw some recent pictures of myself, I could no longer deny that I look middle-aged.  Graying hair, wrinkles, sagging skin, jowls, oh, my! Who time-traveled my internal "twenty-something" self into this aging body?  It's hard to maintain a spring in your step when the springs are rusting.  Then again, maybe I just need to find a better skin cream.

5.  I've been struggling with a sinus infection and an ear infection.  For the past two weeks, I've been dealing with a virus that has had me coughing like crazy and quite congested.  Earlier this week, my one ear got all blocked up and painful and sure enough, it was infected.  Now, 3 days into a course of antibiotics, I still feel like one ear is stuffed with cotton balls.  At least my normal loud ear-buzzing has dulled to a low roar because of the temporary deafness in the one ear.  My substandard hearing  reminds me of a funny video my son told me about on YouTube.  Let's end on a lighter note, shall we?

If you'd like to participate in Fave Five Friday yourself, head over to Susanne's blog at Living to Tell the Story to read how you can join in the fun.