Wolf is always the one with the reasonable words. :) Yeah, Brianna, listen to her. :D Honestly, I would freak out a little too if people around are dropping dead. :neutral:

I also am in an environment where people drop dead with some regularity, some intentionally.

Got a call from cops last night, in fact ... "Yeah, this is Officer Krupke, one of your patients, her friend said she was on the psych ward, I need her next of kin info, she overdosed."

So, I'm looking up the name and say to the cop, "This going to be an involuntary, you want to give me the info so I'm ready when you've got it written?"

"No, she won't be coming to you. I just need the next of kin info."

So, anyway, by the time we got through that conversation, I had figured out that we'd never seen the poor lady, and some other hospital had let her out that day. We actually have more psych hospitals and psych wards in hospitals than most places in the country. Quite a few to choose from, and a few of them have somewhat similar names.

The psych guy at the hospital that pronounced her called me like a half hour later to "give a heads up about one of your patients."

He also got told, "No, you want to gloat to the next hospital over about this."

Incidentally, we refer to that as "completed" not "successful."

You can Deal with IT.

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My family would post here if anything happened to me. They know you're my friends.

This brings back some ultima online memories. We had an ingame funeral for a player who died. He was in his late 20s and died in a bike accident. His mum informed the community when it happened.

Thanks, all; I feel better now.

The combination of the above weirdness with the winter-rain weather and struggles with my disease (mainly the one that goes, "Hi, Brianna!") just got me down and morbid.

My therapist (my CA therapist who is a true guru) says, "Don't exaggerate! You exaggerate and the Universe hears you!"

i wasn't exaggerating, all those things happened, but sometimes I get mixed up. Yeah, a string of unfortunate events but not an omen to me personally. I've been told that this disease is terminal if not arrested. I believe it.

Life is terminal, hon. Once you've got that concept licked, you're good to go and make the most of it :D

Yep, life is a sexually transmitted terminal disease.

Dunno if this will help, but it happened to me...

About six years ago, someone close to me died at the age of 32. That was a real wake-up call. I decided that life was for the living and my life at that time could hardly be called "living." It was more like torture. Drudgery. Dull, dull, dull. Annoying and pointless.

So I stopped living that old life and embarked on a new one, in a place I'd never been. Just like that. Walked away from a good govt. job and a killer condo in the Bay Area to buy a house in the woods in a different state where I knew nobody.

GREATEST DECISION I EVER MADE.

I know just walking away from your life isn't something most folks would consider, but I think more people should. Sometimes you have to step outside the box to see how miserable you've been inside it.

*hugs*

Glinda: Just out of curiosity, what do you do now?

I like this, Glinda. Good for you!

We only get one go 'round.

Tell that to the Dalai Lama.

Heh. Well, therein lies a tale. Previously, I worked for the CA State Bar, herding attorneys (Whee. Fun.). It was your basic 40-hour/week, killer benefits, can-only-be-fired-if-you-show-up-at-work-with-a-shotgun, type job. Great if you want nothing more out of life than dealing with BS bureaucratic red tape for 25 years just to secure a semi-reasonable retirement (which, given the current mess of the stock market, is most likely no longer even remotely semi-reasonable). Meanwhile, I did some freelance writing on the side.

After my big move (2004), I started pimping my freelance writing - did mostly advertising and web copy for small businesses. In early 2007, I hooked up with a Dallas auction company, researching collectibles and writing catalog descriptions for them (I used to do this work years ago in LA). Everything was FAB until last fall, when they stopped flying me out there to work, and sent things to me in the mail, instead. Unfortunately, the work load is now only about half what it's been, so I'm searching for an actual *gag* full-time job.

GDMF economy buggered up my perfect semi-retirement! %$#@! :mad2:

glinda, your bravery will be rewarded!

you helped both me and my sister with your story. thanks!

You know, I keep thinking about how I beat out the devaluation of my retirement money... When I moved up north, I cashed out my 401(k) (there wasn't that much there to start with) to help buy my house, something one should NEVER do. But I had to, to make it all work. Now, five years later, I'm a genius 'cause I got full value for that money, something most folks will never able to say.

Who knew? *wink*

I just keep telling myself "There are no guarantees in life," and then I do what I need to do to get through this day; whatever comes tomorrow I'll deal with tomorrow.

Like I said, what I did is not for everybody, but the big lesson I learned is that I really can get through pretty much anything.

There's no reason to be afraid of change or an unplanned future... So be bold! Be daring!


Anyway, I'm glad my story helped!

Well said Glin. That's how I try to live my life.