MONDAY MOTIVATION - An Unlikely Heroine

The holidays are in full swing - as you probably noticed by my lack of posting last week. I started out the week by helping my son with his Eagle Scout project... Christmas for 20 families. This completely consumed us - as anyone who tried to email or facebook me can tell you. Then, of course, Thanksgiving with family, and then Black Friday - which actually started at 10:00 on Thanksgiving day. I'm still not fully recovered from my 24 hours of no sleep. On Saturday, I was asked if I would be willing to accompany someone who wanted to sing at church the next day. Yikes!

This week will be just as busy, and as I sit here, at almost midnight, writing an email to my son, who is living in Mexico, I realize that this it's nice and quiet - everyone else is in bed - and I've got some time to think. I'm wondering what I want to write about on this blog for Monday's post. Looking back over the last week, I try to remember a time when I didn't feel rushed, and I think it has to be when I found the time to sit still and read an incredible book. The book my kids talked me into reading is from a genre the I don't usually read - Fantasy. However, it doesn't really matter what genre it's from if the story is well written, and grabs my attention. The book is called Mistborn, and I loved it. Why? Well, there was a bad guy - really bad. There was an unlikely heroine. There was magic. A good story always includes someone who overcomes something bad. I love a book that offers me lessons to be learned, and reinforces my belief that good guys come out on top!

I wonder why I like stories like this? Thinking about it, this kind of story sounds familiar to me - in terms of my own life...

The bad guy... CANCER (don't we know it!)
The unlikely heroine... ME (or you... any survivor, really)
The lessons learned... I'm strong enough to defeat the disease, I can do hard things
The magic... I've changed - I'm more empathetic, not as self-centered, and I've come to realize what is most important in my life.

Even though this last week was busy, it was time well spent with family, serving others. I hope you'll take some time this holiday season with your family. Take some time helping others. And take some time for yourself. After all - the heroine needs to relax a little, right?