It was just a thought

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else." Ralph Waldo Emerson

It has been a long time since I have picked up my pen (so to speak) in preparation of creating my newspaper column, ...just a thought. For more than seven years I penned a weekly column that brought out my own inner thoughts and transferred them to my loyal readers. I inadvertently inspired many of those readers to reach out and grab what life had to offer. I wrote about my family, my goals, my friends, our triumphs and our defeats. My readers were with me every step of the way. I guess you could say it was my weekly blog (although that word did not even exist back then).
Now, thanks to my daughter, Heather, it is time to get back to writing. The paper has been sold and I have another career, Real Estate (we will get into that later). I love what I am doing, and I have gained so much from the people I have met, but I truly miss my quiet writing time when inspiration is my only goal.
What is there to miss about writing? Well, I always felt good after I signed off for the week. I believed that if I touched at least one person, if I had made one person smile, or recall a distant memory, I was successful (being successful in life, well that is another story!).
Let's talk about loss for a minute. This morning Shawn Hornbeck appeared on The Today Show. At age 11 he was abducted and tortured for more than 4 years. Shawn and his family lost so much, but what held him together during that time was the love he knew his family carried for him. No, he can never regain that time, and he probably will never forget the traumatic ordeal. But what Shawn gained was strength and faith that his family would never give up and he would eventually return home, which he did. Now through their loss, others are gaining. Shawn and his family have started the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation in order to help other families cope with similar traumas. visit www.thetodayshow.com for the full story.
Look around, at how lucky you are! If you have children hug them, if your parents are not close by, call them, if you think a friend is out of sorts, email them. Your family is safe, your life looks pretty good from this angle! How does it look from your angle?
...it was just a thought
Stephanie