[DOF] After A Curve Ball

After A Curve Ball

by Lavanders_blue

One day in September 2018 my mom called me, in a panic tone, told me to come over asap. When I got there, my dad's face was drooping to one side, he can barely talk without a slur. I knew I had to bring him to the emergency room right away.  The ER resident doctor confirmed it as a stroke, his second in two years. Like the first stroke, being the only one with a flexible schedule, I was given the responsibilty to accompany him all throughout his stay in the hospital, which lasted for more than two weeks.  Everyday for the entire duration of his confinement was a time of the unknown; anything can happen.

Oftentimes, life throws you curve balls here and there, it brings you humps and bumps down the road, it also cautions you to slow down a bit or you might hit a wall and fall flat on your face; and it happens.  One day you are bursting with energy, ready to tackle the day's challenges. Then all of a sudden, dark clouds hover above, everything becomes gloomy and grey. You find yourself scared of the unknown, of the uncertainty it brings and all you can do at the moment is ask yourself "what do I do now?".

1. Stop
Stop thinking of negative things.
Stop blaming yourself for circumstances beyond your control.
Stop taking responsibility over everything.
Stop punishing yourself if things did not happen according to plan.

2. Adjust
Learn to assess the situation you are in and make adjustments.
Learn to quickly adapt to the changes.

3. Change
Determine which needs to change
Implement ways and means for a successful transition

4. Sustain / Maintain
Be firm in carrying out the implementation of change.

5. Rest
Do not forget to rest, relax and recharge.

p.s. I remember texting Cindy the first night my dad was in the hospital. I informed her of my inability to continue with DOF at that time for obvious reasons.  She was welcoming and told me "do not stress Lav, we will talk about it when you get back".  I appreciated her understanding of my situation. We did talk about it when I got to log in habbo again and got an arrow at UN, she even suggested that perhaps I needed time to rest and so I did rest from DOF and just concentrated on my 24/7 on call job as my dad's private nurse (in a sense) and of course getting arrows as well.

After four months, I am back, rested and recharged.  Although I still have stress levels soaring from time to time; I know I can still find time to write a minimum for DOF. So in my return, I look forward to writing about a wide array of topics and hopefully you readers get to enjoy and learn something from all of it. 

Have a wonderful day everyone and remember ...

Rest, no matter how short, take it, it does wonders. (Lav.01.15.19)