Tag: joy

Bubbling over

I am just sitting here before going to the office, dogs by my side, sun shining and birds chirping. I just complete an order for my office for supplies with no issue. I am looking at my bank account and we are finally doing ok after years of struggle.

It has been a tough four years. I have battled two cancers and then advocated and helped save my husband’s life in between those two cancers. I have struggled financially, digging out whatever personal credit card I could find while I was managing two businesses from my hospital bed and trying to do whatever I could to make sure my employees were ok.

All …completely…worth…it. I know some people would say why did you do that? Well, because I wanted to find whatever way I could to ensure that something was there to come back to when I was well again. Yes, I incurred a lot of extra debt along the way, but now, I get to be healthy and I get to still have a work place to go to to take care of women of all ages every single day. This is a real hard earned/blessing combo. I realize that it required an extraordinary amount of effort and creative thinking in addition to the cancer battles.

But, here I am now, sitting here enjoying even the tiniest of successes. Everything has elevated in importance and significance. I realize that I already knew this before, but I cannot deny that my investment in health, safety, joy, family, and success has magnified. I am so happy that I still get to be here to experience it. I had an eagle fly over me the other day, which is yet another potential indicator of success and good fortune. I’ll take it!

Have an amazing day everyone.

Dr. Katz

I know you’ve all been wondering anyway.

I know you have been wondering how in the heck I got to be me. It has been implied that there are a large amount of background stories contributing to this evolution of mine. Welp, you are about to hear some of them!

That’s right folks. My autobiography is about to launch into publication. I even wrote enough to achieve a hardcover edition! My publishers tell me that they have already nominated it for a national book honor for best biography. I am so humbled and flattered by this that I about burst into tears when I heard it.

I hope you all get a chance to read it when it comes out. I want to be very clear about a couple of things. This is not meant to be a tattle tale tell-all. This is meant to be a peak into some of the stories and adventures I have been through and that have helped shape me into who I am. The main point of writing the book in the first place was to try to finish processing some of those memories and hopefully show everyone how it is possible to make the choice to end up a good human regardless of what happens to you.

There are ways to extract good out of many different circumstances. I am not talking about being a doormat or kidding yourself and not trying to get out of a bad situation. I am not talking about not advocating for yourself. There are amazing nuggets and moments and some not so amazing moments as well. I hope you all enjoy, learn, and hopefully be empowered by it. Happy Reading!

Dr. Katz

IDGAF

Yes, I just saw this on a license plate the other day. A woman had it proudly emblazened on the license plate on the front of her car. You could tell that she was very pleased with herself, thought of herself as a true bad-ass.

I had some different thoughts about it. You know what those initials mean, right? It means I don’t give a fuck. I..don’t…give…a…fuck. I think to her, that means no one is going to tell her what to do or command her to give an opinion on anything. For her, that is stating some sense of power.

I see it differently. First, why “say” something like that out loud and not even use the words, just the initials? Why not spell it all out? Is she afraid of getting in trouble? Can she not even say it? That sounds like cowardice to me.

My impression is that when someone says that, they think they are making a power statement, but what they are really saying is that they refuse to make an investment of any sort in any idea or belief. They refuse to hold anything of importance enough to take stock in it or stand up for it. They are stubborn and weak at the same time. They are not actually taking control of anything. They are actually giving up on everything. They are refusing to put the work in. It’s a no win situation.

To say you don’t give a fuck/don’t care about anything means that you are giving up on the world around you. You are determined to not participate or find joy in anything. This is no way to live. I don’t understand it. I get that you get down after life has thrown you a crap ton of curve balls. Sometimes things get pretty shitty. I get it. I have been there. I have survived multiple cancers, almost lost my husband to heart disease and faced potential financial ruin multiple times…and I still give a fuck! If I can do it, you can too.

Dr. Katz

It’s Time to Say Goodbye to the Playset

Today we sold the huge playset in our back yard. We have had it for 15 years. It has swings, a trapeze, monkey bars, a slide, a sandbox, and a fort. We have been complaining about it for years because it was taking up space in our yard. Our youngest child is now 16 and no one has used it consistently since I can remember. And yet, we have held off from selling it….until now. Why? Were we waiting for grandkids someday? Did we think that we were suddenly going to get the urge to swing non stop? We finally listed it on Facebook and it was gone within 24 hours. Just the thought of it sent my 16 year old running to the swings and swinging as if her life depended on it, telling us how much she will miss it and how we will be depriving future grandchildren of its pleasures.

Suddenly we were all waxing poetic about the first time we bought it at the Monroe County Fair and reminiscing about the day we set it up. Why was it suddenly so important? Now that I think about it, it was important for so many reasons. It is the last remnant of our old house that we brought with us to this one. It is one of the last ties to a former life when the kids were little and innocent. That swing set was the setting for multiple milestones and countless important private conversations. It held our metaphorical as well as physical highs and lows, just like the swings that hung there. It listened quietly to devastating news and terrific recounts of joy with no judgement, offering comfort in the swings, lifting us to the heavens either to celebrate or to work through grief. It was a staple in our lives for years. It won’t be leaving for another few days yet. Maybe we’ll just make some time for a little more swinging.

Dr. Katz