5 years ago today, this was my office waiting room. A hurricane was coming through, and even though my office is 25 feet above sea level, a direct hurricane hit could be devastating. I wanted the bird cages to be as far away from the windows and walls as possible. In fact, as I slept that night on the floor of my office, the hurricane sounded like a thundering train coming through. As if to show its power, fate also had provided me with 6 months of watching Jacquelyn dying of brain cancer, and she was lying in a bed at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. I, and a few of my friends and family members rode out the hurricane together. It seemed to me as if fate was laughing at me. I had led a charmed life for the most part, and the ceiling was falling in on me. After the hurricane passed, I spent days removing downed trees, several of which were in the pool, and removing rotting food from the freezer. If you have ever had to empty a floor freezer containing rotten meat, and carry it in plastic bags, you can understand my frustration. When Jacquelyn died six weeks later, I was convinced that fate was my enemy. But, then, I had to make a choice. It would be easy to wallow in my bad fortune. It would be easy to use grief as an excuse. Who would question a grieving widower if he checked out, and spent his time locked in the house? But, then I recalled my Stoic training. I realized that none of what happened was in my control. My reaction to it was. I could choose life. I chose to be open to every day of living. I decided to find joy, and to enjoy each day in which fate didn’t hit me with another disaster. Today, I am again happily sharing my life with a lovely, kind, giving and caring woman, whom I choose to love every day. Some tell me that I overshare on social media. However, I want to use these moments to show that we all can choose to be happy. Are you in the midst of a disaster or disasters? Choose happiness today. No power on earth can stop you.
