Suffering?

I tend to disagree with this statement. When I was a young girl, growing up in a home with four sisters, there was always some kind of drama taking place. Whenever I was upset or hurt, my mother would tell me she felt my pain, and that one day when I was a mother, I would understand how it feels to be one and feel for your children.

She couldn't have been more correct.

One part of the quote above I do agree with is that I am responsible for my own happiness - it comes from within - but seeing one of my children struggling or in emotional pain is absolutely heartbreaking. And as my mother had warned, I too feel my kids' emotions as if they were my own.

I wish I could kiss it and make it better like I could when they were babies and toddlers. But all I can offer them now is to be a listening ear, a constant loving and unconditional support, but each child inevitably has to go through their own experiences which will consequently define them as an adult later on.

The aftermath of Hurricane Irma has not only left destruction for many, which my heart goes out to, but it's also taken away normalcy in so many peoples' everyday routines, affecting everyone in a different way. Thank goodness our home was fine other than a minor roof leak, downed branches, and a roof tile which flew off and dented my truck. Our business is still mending, waiting for complete power restoration.

Needless to say, it's been an exhausing week. And to have one of my children facing a life challenge, has only made it more difficult to get through.

What have I done to help myself deal with my heavy heart? I finished Eternity and one read-through with edits, the follow-up novella to the Hilltops Series, which I will get busy professionaly editing, and I've been doing second edits on Hold me, book one in my new Music For The Heart Series. I'm thankul to my characters for helping me get out of my head. At least something can at the moment.

As with everything else in life, I know this too shall pass, but getting through it sucks.

Here's to the hope of knowing that life is full of ups and downs. Appreciate and embrace the ups so we can better deal with the downs.