A new decade begins...

My idea for blogging is to share things that will hopefully inspire others to "Get Help and Get Happy" in some way. At times I will talk about myself and my life, although that is not my overall intent. However, this weekend was so incredible for me that I have to share the relevant "get help and get happy" message with you. I turned 50 on Saturday; I had made peace with the idea of "that number" over the past six months, as I would refer to myself as being 50 in conversations when relevant so that I wouldn't die of shock when it actually happened.  My most joyful times are when I'm with my immediate family, and that's exactly what we had planned for the day. My husband, Steve and my mother, who lives with us, went to Atlanta to spend the day with our three kids and their new spouses. I was prepared for a day of game playing and suspected they had made me a video of pictures from the years (since all of my photo albums have been missing since June)...  What I did not expect was to find three of my best friends from around the country waiting with my kids in Atlanta. This is a big deal since they have all been to GA many times in the past year and a half as all three of the kids got married in a ten-month period of time so there was no way I would have suspected they would come here yet again... and here they were. In addition, the kids had other friends and family send video birthday greetings which was super fun! And the Facebook messages from people from all over the country. It genuinely felt like a celebration of my life. I felt so completely loved. 

And here is the message... 22 years ago - as a very young mother of three tiny children, with a husband who loved me and who I loved - but neither of us knew how to do so in healthy ways... we were on the brink of losing it all... I had turned to prescription drugs to deal with the mess I had made of life ... and only by the grace of God was I led to an outpatient treatment program. Our lives changed and myself and my husband GOT HELP AND GOT HAPPY. 

The rewards today are enormous and more joyful than I could ever express in mere words. All I can tell people is that when we made the decision to summon our courage and face our troubles head on - with the help of some incredible therapists and friends - we found out what a genuinely happy relationship is like and we learned to parent in healthy ways. I describe it as going from life in black and white to living life with the most brilliant colors imaginable!

My life at 50 is better than I could have ever dreamed life could be! And that is what I wish for each of you. And I know, from personal experience and from working as a therapist for the past 20 years, that for most people it takes getting HELP. 

So please - Get HELP and Get HAPPY!

Joy to you!

Connie