Posted on Saturday, 15th August 2009 by Catherine
Welcome to THE SHOE BOX DAILY where my shoes tell my story. We all wear many shoes in our lifetime and this site is dedicated to my crazy life with simple ideas, inspiring stories and perspective changing moments. Simple, inspiring and perspective are three of my favorite words. As a mother of 3 kids ages 7,5 and 2 (rounding up for simplicity sake) anything “simple” makes me smile. I strive to find simple solutions for managing everyday stresses. I love it when I find a product or service and just have to share with others. I want this site to reflect that so I will try and keep it simple and not overloaded with information. I find busy sites are overwhelming and if you found me I want you to come back and read what I have to say ( if you want to).
While I love simple that is not to say that my life is simple – in fact it is kind-of crazy most days. The biggest factor in my life is I have a child battling cancer. My 7 year old was 2 1/2 when he was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was life changing and not a simple process. It was then that I began my journey with inspiration and coping with unexpected things in life. People have said my writing is inspiring to me it is just my thoughts but I love that I have inspired some people. My son inspires me every day. He is my hero and through him I am able to inspire other people to make healthy choices during challenging times instead of reckless choices. Coping with my son’s cancer has shown me that I am much stronger than I thought and I was blessed with the desire to cope in a productive and positive way in life. I want to share that with others.
You don’t have to be dealing with cancer to realize that you may not be doing a good job coping with your life. It sure is easier to make unhealthy choices (just like with food) than it is to channel your stress into doing good. Realize that I too have to force myself to be positive, have a good attitude and keep perspective in my life.
Follow along with me on this journey as I attempt to reach as many people as I can and show them they can do it – they can overcome whatever life has placed in the way. Please do not mistake what I am saying for “your obstacles will go away” – sometimes overcoming them means they will go away, for example if you are looking for a job and find one. Sometimes dealing with an illness or a death you need to cope with that long term. One of the things that gets me through both illness and death in my life is perspective.
Perspective is one of my favorite words and concepts. It is all about how you “view” things. Perspective is a mental view or outlook. So often my stories and situations are perspective for other people helping them to see that their struggles may not be as bad as they could be. We all need perspective and to be able to see things from another point of view. It is healthy to be able to say “wow that person really has it rough” and think twice about complaining about the “rough” things in your life. You are always entitled to complain, vent and be frustrated – these are healthy things to do but you can’t get caught up in that cycle and start feeling sorry for yourself. That is where realizing that it (your situation) can always be worse and there are probably people dealing with a whole lot worse than you are. I am not saying you should take joy in another persons misfortune just be mindful. Here is an example, my husband travels about 75% of the week. It is hard and draining and bunches of other things that I am sure will come out sooner or later on this site. Nearly every week I say things like “at least he HAS a job” or I think of the wives of the soldiers who have been gone for months at a time. All of the sudden his travel seems a whole lot more manageable than the alternative. It just takes a little brain training.
So simple, inspiring and perspective are three of my favorite topics and you will see more on them in the future. I am glad you found the site. If you like what you read you may like an autographed copy of my book.
Thanks for visiting and come back often as this busy mom helps people cope with the insanity of life!
