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Happy (?) Friday

2013 January 26
by WWGD

Screen Shot 2013-01-26 at 9.31.48 AM

This has been one rotten week.

It started out with my very first negative comment from a reader who wanted to see more “grit” on the blog. It seems my musings on positivity, happiness and the beach are not of interest to her. Which is fine, you can’t please everyone, especially online, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t leave me feeling a touch insecure.

But just a touch.

I feel like everyone around me was dealing with sad news this week. Health issues, marriage issues, work issues.

I had a tiring few days solo with my kids and got some less than amazing news on the work front and felt exhausted and burnt out and just couldn’t shake it.

I felt like my big dreams and hopes of last week were all out of reach this week.

I felt drained, mentally and physically.

And then I came across Natalie Norton. I found her blog via a shout-out on Bleubird‘s Instagram yesterday afternoon and quickly became immersed in her story. Natalie had a newborn baby boy in late 2009 who was diagnosed shortly thereafter with RSV and pertussis (whooping cough). It was the exact diagnosis my little Kai got only three days after his birth exactly one year later, in late 2010. Kai was on antibiotics at three days old, in the hospital at seven days old, and thankfully, back home and given the all-clear within weeks. Natalie’s little Gavin did not make it and passed away in January 2010…from the exact same thing my son had.

Natalie’s story stuck with me all night.

When I was frustrated by a not-so-encouraging meeting with some realtors. When my bank balance stared back at me from the Chase app with a little smirk. When my kids ran circles around me (literally) screaming at the top of their lungs.

I just kept thinking of Natalie. And Gavin. And the journey they went through. And the incredible outlook she had on the whole thing via her blog – finding solace and positivity in prayer and the comfort of virtual strangers. It took me right back to those days during Kai’s sickness when I wasn’t positive or enlightened or patient. I was mad and an emotional wreck and cursing a mile a minute and didn’t understand why this was happening to us.

I had felt drained, mentally and physically.

Then around 9pm last night, I got a Twitter message from Natalie (love the internet sometimes). She had seen a message I had left on Bleubird’s Instagram, sending her virtual best wishes and peace for Gavin and she wanted to reach out to say how happy she was “for my miracle.”

And suddenly my not-so-happy Friday took a turn.

*You can see more about Natalie’s story here and learn more about pertussis and the importance of vaccinations (particularly for adults that will be in contact with newborn babies – if you are pregnant, I urge you to please look into this) at Sounds of Pertussis.com.

**Image above via here**

 

6 Responses
  1. Lisa Ritchie-Martinez permalink
    January 26, 2013

    My first thought was read a different blog if this one’s not enough of a downer. I’m new to reading your blog, but thoroughly enjoy it, found it from a friend’s Pintrest feed.

    • WWGD permalink*
      January 26, 2013

      Thanks so much, Lisa — appreciate you taking the time to read!

  2. January 27, 2013

    Isn’t it interesting that negative people often seem to have the loudest voices? I read your blog all the time because I think it is wonderful to be positive. I also think that women need to be supportive and kind to each in other, not tear each other down. I am sorry you had a bad week. When too many bad things happen to me in a row, I like to go buy a lottery ticket. My feeling is that the bad luck will run out some time and when it does I want to be ready :).

    • WWGD permalink*
      January 27, 2013

      Thanks so much, Isabelle. Really appreciate you taking the time to comment. Will definitely give that lottery ticket idea a chance 😉

  3. January 28, 2013

    Raluca, I want thank you for your honesty here and always! I, for one, feel that what attracts me to your blog most is the way you thoughtfully illustrate your daily life as a working mom & blogger, with all its ups and downs. I’m sorry you’ve been feeling blue lately. It’s true – you can’t please everyone, and you seem to have a great perspective on that. As you pointed out on my blog, it seems like there’s been a lot of change at the beginning of this year (it feels like sometime took all of the balls I was juggling and just threw them up in the air!), and lots of bloggers have been reflecting on this. In a community that is so perpetually positive, always looking for pretty things, always finding the silver lining or the blessing in something – which is a wonderful thing – sometimes it can feel like there’s not a lot of room to acknowledge our less-than-happy feelings, and I think doing this is key! So I’ve been really happy to see that you and other bloggers are open about how you’ve been feeling. Allowing those feelings to happen without immediately needing to turn them around into a positive is a must. Then (as it sounds like you did!), you can be open to perspectives that might help you accept your struggles and move past them. I agree with your other faithful readers that it is wonderful to be positive – but I also love hearing your honesty when things might not be 100% perfect. We don’t have to be relentlessly positive or morosely negative to fit into someone else’s expectations; we just have to BE! xx

  4. January 28, 2013

    Thank you, as always, for your post(s). I, too, read your blog for what it is: you, writing/posting/noting what you want to share. I, too, find your positivity useful in bearing the times that you hit last week. Your Making my Mondays, for example, are trying hard (and I’m resisting) to remind me that I shouldn’t complain as much as I do, and that I should focus on the positive. It’s useful to do that. It’s useful to hold the good things up as reminders of what we have and are grateful for.

    Anyway, thank you for sharing whatever it is you want or need to share, whenever you want to share it. Even the Next Best Nail Color 🙂

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