Believe In The Divine
Everything happens for a reason.
When something awful happens to you, we know this is only a stage that will eventually pass.
When something extraordinary happens to you, we also know this will not last forever.
Over time I have learned to look at things with a light sense of humor because it will always pass no matter what it is.
At the end of the day, we need to learn to rely on three things:
- Our self
- Our positive attitude in life
- A little absent-minded
There is no better person to lean on but yourself.
No matter what happens in life, we can always embrace challenges and be grateful when things are going well.
Lastly, we don’t need to know everything. Sometimes a little absent-minded can make our lives easier. Not knowing doesn’t mean it is bad. Knowing but not acting is even better.
Found love for my parents again
I have had a successful career starting from my twenties to my forties. I have learned to embrace challenges and learned from my mentors and colleagues. After working in multiple tech companies, I was impacted by a company layoff last year.
This was the first time when I felt helpless and lost. Due to the global economy, I could not find a job as quickly as I had hoped, so I took some time to rest and thought about the next steps.
During this time, I was able to visit my parents more often and did not realize how much older they had gotten over the years.
Most of us spend less and less time with our parents as we age. Because we think it’s “natural” to do so since we are busy with family, work, and personal life.
However, my mom has always been dealing with mental and chronic health issues for the past few years. Though I made time to visit, her condition deteriorated over time.
A few weeks after the layoff, my mom had an emergency at home, and I was there for lunch that day. Her face was pale and unresponsive, I had to call 911, and she was rushed to the hospital.
It turned out that she had serious anemia, which required immediate blood transfusion, accompanied by high glucose levels, misuse of medication, kidney interim failure, and other chronic illnesses.
She spent about a week in the hospital for immediate treatment. After her discharge, we made a few follow-up appointments, including cardiac, urology, and others. She also left the hospital with a urinary catheter.
For the next few weeks, I would visit my parent's house every day, helping my mom with her daily bath and helping her with building her strength to walk with a four-legged walker or cane. Fortunately, her urinary catheter came off after three weeks, and her legs have gotten stronger to walk and get herself off the bed or toilet. Huge progress on her side.
During this time, I have spent much time talking to her, cheering her on for her recovery. My Dad was there too, but most of the time, he didn’t know what to do. I felt like even though they were my parents, and I was the one parenting them. I was teaching my parents how to better care for themselves and each other and the importance of exercise and a healthy diet.
They are both over 80 years old and as an adult looking at my parents, they have suddenly become children-like. Always looking forward to my visiting every day, happy to have me help them or nag them about little things.
They felt loved.
Somehow I have lost my real connection with my parents because I have been so busy with my career and kids, but I am grateful to reconnect again with them at a deeper level.
Being there for our parents like they have been for us when we were young, isn’t this the beauty of life’s journey?
Looking back at what happened to my layoff, the gain from this event is far more than what I could have hoped for.
Still unemployed but super grateful
Since the layoff, I have had much time to reflect and think about the future.
- After 25+ years of active drinking, I have decided to work on sobriety.
- I am spending much more quality time with my children and having more meaningful conversations now as they are now older.
- I am focusing on my health, mental fitness and taking as much time as I need to find my next steps.
- Learning to self-love and avoid anything that will devalue my self-worth, including toxic relationships.
Everything happens for a reason. I would have never had so many gains without feeling helpless and lost from my job layoff.
Thank you for being here. If you have enjoyed this story, please give me a clap or two, and I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you in advance for your support and encouragement.
Let’s find peace together.
Feel free to visit my home page at https://medium.com/@PeaceWithin
