“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C. S. Lewis
Reset, Rethink, Reboot, Revive, Renew, Replace, Reorganize, Rework, Regenerate, Reestablish, Reconstruct, Readjust, Refresh…
I recently found a knitted scarf I had started and never finished. During both of my cancer struggles, my sister decided knitting would be something fun to do together and it would help with my mind, eye and body coordination. Chemotherapy gave me many bad side effects, one called Neuropathy, which caused nerve damage. All during treatments, my body was totally numb. It never fully went away, and I still have tingling, numbness, and other sensations, in my feet and hands. But the positive side is, I’m still here!
I did finish the first project which was a large wool shawl that I still use quite often in Winter. Knitting kept my mind occupied while on the long 6-hour, one-way drives to Jacksonville to receive weekly chemo. How John did this for about a year still makes me cry today. It was so hard on him and he never complained.
When cancer reemerged in August of 2016, Christine and I started this new scarf project, but we started off wrong and hence my idea of a blog about “Starting Over”. I basically knew we cast on too many stitches, or we should have changed to smaller needles, but with most things in life, we kept on going thinking the outcome would be fine. Well, for me, it wasn’t! Why didn’t I listen to my intuition? I was unhappy with the shape, but I just prayed I had enough yarn to make it longer than it was wide. Well, that didn’t happen! And if you knit, you know to purchase more than you need, because it’s so hard to find or match the yarn. So, I decided to go find a plain black yarn, but it just didn’t look right. So, I gave up and stuffed the scarf and yarn into a bag. Moving hid it out of my sight for some time, but when I recently came across it, I sat on the floor and decided I could throw it out or make a large ball of yarn and start over.
Being able to start over is a true blessing and gift. During my years, I have started my life over many times with relationships, jobs, moving to new cities and towns—all huge hurdles. Each specific change and/or challenge felt like a mountain but in the end, it was always for the best and I came out of it stronger and smarter. My sister is starting her life over and I told her this morning to look at it as a gift from God. How many people are stuck and don’t have the opportunity to start over? A new beginning is exciting if we focus on the good, being grateful for what we already have and seeing it as a positive and not a negative. Why does change make us so nervous? It’s good to be out of our comfort zone at times, because it is there that we grow stronger. Embrace change – take it on and start over!
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Albert Einstein
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Wayne W. Dyer
To your health and well-being,
Alis Jordan