To Make Something From Nothing

Writing challenge — accepted

The Dozen tagged me and some others to a writers’ challenge. This is the result of that. In his piece, he listed a few of the reasons that he was able to show gratitude for in 2020. 2020 was an awful year! How can anyone show gratitude in the midst of chaos?

Attitude.

Gratitude is all about attitude. You can find something to be grateful for if you focus on positivity instead of negativity. My list is about the basics of life. Watch for the light and the dark and see where I chose light.

I have a roof over my head.

Not everyone can that. Homelessness was already an issue in the US, but it has gotten exponentially worse. A lot of people lost their homes in 2020 and unfortunately, many more will in 2021 given our current path in this country. Currently, I am living with my soon to be 82-year-old father. Due to my health deciding to go on an extended leave of absence I really didn’t have much of a choice. But that’s a lie. I could have ended up in a shelter or on a park bench. Is it always fun living with a grumpy old guy? Uh nah. But guess? I’m sure I’m no walk in the park either. We both have stubborn streaks where we want to do what we want to do when we want to do it. Which doesn’t always equate to us being on the same page. However, there will come a day that I will dread when he’s no longer here. So, I’ve learned to deep breathe the small things away and enjoy the time I have with him.

I have food to eat.

I keep the place loaded up with food. Some good for you some not so much. Balance. Everything in moderation. There are people out there who go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. They’re living on food donations and soup kitchens to keep a little something in their bellies. Is what’s going on in my world right now ideal? No. But it could always be worse.

I have clothes to wear.

Since I’ve embraced the minimalist lifestyle, I don’t have a lot. But I still have more than I actually need. Living in a four-season climate means owning more clothes than some. I’m living in relative luxury that I can throw open the closet door and decide what I feel like wearing on any given day. There are some who are walking around with all of their possessions on them. That’s it. That’s all they have.

I have doctors and medicines.

The one good thing about being so sick? Free healthcare. Unheard of here usually but if you’re jacked up enough then taadaa. No copays. No deductibles. Nada. This is good since I have two 3-ring binders that house two years’ worth of my medical records. You read that right. I’m on about 14 prescriptions at this moment (between you and me I stopped taking half of them in September and I’m still alive!) I’d be dead by now if I had to pay for all of that out of pocket because I wouldn’t be able to afford it. There are people in the world who can’t even afford to go to the doctor to see why they feel like sh*t. Those that can see a doctor can’t afford the scripts. But for me? I have a full pillbox with my daily doses in it waiting for me every day and every night. I am truly blessed.

I am able to finally express myself.

Thanks to these illnesses I’ve had to medically retire. It too turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had been in the healthcare field prior to COVID. I’m in the high-risk category as I’m sure you can imagine. So that’s left me with a lot of free time on my hands. It was a huge adjustment going from working 1 FT and 1 PT job or 1 FT job and doing volunteer work, to being able to do next to nothing. No more wearing scrubs. No more taking care of patients. No more feeling as though I was playing my part and making the world a slightly better place. I felt useless. I felt lost. Then I found Medium.

Now I have writers that I send PNs to let them know that it’s ‘their’ not ‘thier’ and you all know who you are! So that keeps my mind and hands busy and I’m assisting my fellow brothers and sisters of the keyboard. I write. A lot. Most of it is comments on other writers’ stories but it counts. I bring insight and humor. God the humor! Just as The Maverick Files or Charles H. Roast. They’ll tell you!

But when my brain isn’t fogged, and my body isn’t racked with pain — I write. And now as an editor for Illumination's Mirror, I write and edit stories. I write and edit articles. I write for me. I get to let a lot of stuff out and let it go that up until then I was unable to do so. Why? I was too busy taking care of the world and spent no time taking care of myself. Ironic now that is how most of my time is spent. Taking care of me.

Conclusion

No matter how jacked up you think your current situation is it could always be worse. If you continue to allow pessimism and negativity to cloud your judgment, well, you may very well end up being a self-fulfilled prophecy. Don’t know where to start? Buy a homeless person a meal. Donate toiletries to a local shelter. Hand someone a buck as you walk by them and they sit on the sidewalk. Have extra coats and blankets? Donate them. One of the few who can afford to buy new? Buy some and then donate them. Open your eyes, your heart, your mind. Then you will send an abundance of opportunities to help. Help someone who has less than you.

Here’s the link to the original challenge. Hopefully, I’ve lived up to the task!

Now I challenge Charles H. Roast, Roz Warren, Sterling Page, Sherry McGuinn, Terry Trueman, Phil Truman, Yohanan Gregorius, Sabana Grande, Britni Pepper, Darrin Atkins, Vishnu*s Virtues, Haimish Mead, William (Dollar Bill) Mersey, and anyone else who cares to join in!