It's all good!

Today I have been thinking a lot about how blessed I really am! I know you hear this all the time from a million and a half people, but REALLY GUYS!! You have no idea how good we have it. Yes, we all have our rough moments, our "hard times". I come from an amazing family! I have an amazing job! I have the best friends! I just can't even express my love of how great my life is at this moment. I'm not saying this to brag or to say i'm better than you. Look around! The majority of us have it the same way!!

"It's All Good!"

Working in the insurance business I get a lot of calls where something terrible has happened to someone and I have the privilege to hear their story. I know that the word 'privilege' may seem a funny word to use in this case but, it truly is a 'privilege'! I get to have a glimpse into other's lives that I otherwise wouldn't get.

A call that I received today was really humbling. It started like any other phone call with me asking her name and member ID and asking her to verify her address. I then asked how I could help her and the story started. She started by saying that she needed to take her son to the hospital. (Not the emergency room, that was my reaction too... "What the heck are you doing calling me!? Get yourself to the ER!!!") She continued saying that she usually takes him to their physician but heir physician tells them to go to the hospital to see a specialist. Her question was if she could skip the whole referral by the physician all together. I explained to her that she could just go to the hospital without a referral. Anyway, she started explaining why she had to take him to the hospital and I couldn't believe it... her son has had these problems for the past two years where he can't maintain a healthy weight, he loses it faster than he can gain any of it back. The doctors don't know exactly what has been wrong with him and have been trying to figure it out. She explained that her son looked anorexic and that it scared her to death. She went on saying that their entire family has had a lot of health problems and that another son is now required to use a wheel chair. (she didn't give me specifics on that son.)

Now for the reason behind all of these health problems-- they had adopted a daughter a few years back, turns out that this adopted daughter has been poisoning them for the past two years. By this point she was breaking down, she was continuing her story pushing through the sobs and fighting back every tear. I was dumbfounded!! How could this girl do something like this to her adopted family? This was a family who had enough love to take in a complete stranger and except her as a part of their unit. I was speechless...

This story is the reason for why I have been thinking about how blessed I am all day. The next time I start to get frustrated that I'm stuck at home again with nothing to do, or that I have to be stuck in an awkward situation, or any other minor problem, I'm definitely going to think twice before I complain!

So, here is to life! The good, the bad, and the ugly! Taking it as it is and being thankful for all the experiences that condition us to become a better version of ourselves. As my older brother Daniel (who comes home from his mission in just about 15 hours!!! Crazy!!! [FYI]) would say, "It's All Good!" Because it really is all good!! Cheers!

In case you were wondering, the adopted daughter is now serving a sentence in jail. I'm not exactly sure how old she is or how long her sentence is. (Those aren't questions you want to bring up to the mother.) I really hope the best for this family and I hope that they will find a way to get past all of this.