Expiration Dates
We all know that food and other products have an official expiration date, stamped on the product, beyond which they are considered to be less safe or to lose quality. I have often been told that most things really can go on beyond their expiration date and be perfectly fine. And yet the dates are there to provide a warning to be more alert to their safety and quality.
Perhaps each of us could have some hidden expiration date stamped on our soul that may or may not reveal itself. I believe I have hit my warning date now and will become increasingly aware of all that I do from here on out. No, I don't think I am expiring, but I will be extremely aware of any stressors in my life!
For those who have not already heard through the grapevine, I had a heart attack last week with 3 stents inserted in my coronary arteries. I was in the hospital at the time for a routine annual check up and started to feel strange in the doctor's office. I left his office and went down the elevator to the main lobby and immediately sat down. A very sweet volunteer approached me right away and asked if I was okay. I said I really wasn't sure. I did have some aching across my chest but certainly not a terrible pain! I could easily have ignored that except that I felt unsteady and shaky. The volunteer asked if she could get someone for me to talk to and I said of course. A man came over and immediately said he would get a wheelchair and take me over to the ER which was very close by. The little voice inside my heart was saying “Yes!” and so I went. At that point my pulse was 40 which undoubtedly caused the strange feelings I was experiencing. In the ER, they started checking my heart enzymes, which continued to climb steadily all day and through the night. So a cardiac catherization was scheduled and it all unfolded from there. I am a person walking around with a low BP and P on a daily basis and have stayed free of prescription drugs for all these years. NEVER did I think this could have happened to me. If I had not already been in the hospital, who knows what the scenario might have been! I feel overwhelming gratitude that I was right there and some caring people noticed that I needed some assistance. AND I feel so grateful for that guidance and the angels around me prompting me to go on to the ER!
Where do I go from here? I have a good bit of healing ahead of me and I am so very aware that stress has been a huge issue in my life. TLC continues to demand a great deal of my time and attention and now that needs to shift. TLC will be going into a slow down mode now and offering fewer events. Tackling the construction will take priority for the rest of the summer, at least. During this slow down mode, your support is needed more than ever. We are seeking more TLC Board members who will assume various aspects of the administrative needs. My 79th birthday will be on the 14th and so I have created a Facebook Fundraiser. for TLC. See here: https://www.facebook.com/share/173SXYfVoQ/
I am so grateful for all the many ways support is flowing forward to keep it all going smoothy during this time of recalculating! I must reduce my work load and my stress load too. My heart has spoken and made my expiration date clear. It is time to slow it all down and take it easy so that I will still have many years of good quality ahead.
So grateful for you!
-Robin