This life is beautiful and there is such great joy in it, but life can also hit us upside the head to get our attention. Being human, I know there are times when something big needs to happen in order to get us off the track we’re on, and in a better direction. These events often help us get “outside” our present thinking, and “inside” what life choices we should really be focusing on.
I previously mentioned on my social media that my friend Kimmy—who has been my hair and make-up person for over 25 years and is one of my dearest friends (actually he’s family to me)—is experiencing a very serious health event. His first surgery involved putting stents in to prepare for a quintuple bypass. He’s seeing life from a different perspective. He told me last night, "I have great doctors, family and dear friends surrounding me, and all the sweet fans praying for me. I started to really think about my life and how I seriously want to make some major changes. The pain from some bad things that happened in my childhood have caused me to sabotage myself through low self-worth, anger, and poor health choices." He continued, "Because of my massive heart attack, the most positive things have happened. I’m finally beginning to feel my inner child’s pain and it’s causing me to have a change of heart!"
There is nothing better than learning life lessons from someone who is writing in their “book” right now. Going over to the hospital and listening to Kimmy—the teacher—has convinced me even more how we can all help each other be better. I’d like to share with you some of his wisdom this Sunday:
“Tell everyone to please take care of their bodies and don’t put off nurturing your emotional heart too. As we grow up there’s a little child, a little you, who may have been abused or felt abandoned as a kid. We tell this injured part of us to go away and be quiet or just suck it up so we don’t feel the pain. Make peace with that child! Confront, listen, and nurture that broken part of you, then let your younger self know it’s OK to just feel. Tell that child how sorry you are for all the self-sabotaging. By doing this, the past doesn’t own you anymore or manifest itself in your future through bad life choices. Unprocessed hurt, the kind you shove way down inside and say go away, will come up at different points in your life and destroy any kind of long term happiness. Another thing, please don’t blame anyone or hold grudges. When you let go of the past, it doesn’t own your future. Also, never let the sun go down on a disagreement. Tell everyone I said life can change in a matter of a second—FORGIVE, because unresolved anger only hurts you. When we get upset over things, they can manifest long-term in our lives and are so petty when viewed from a hospital bed. We get so stubborn in being right, that we don’t realize how wrong we are in not forgiving. It poisons our soul. Lying here helps me realize that I don’t want to be another statistic of someone who didn’t take life seriously. Now life IS serious and I realize it big time while I’m hooked up to a million machines! I was a child who grew up with father issues, and one of the things I’m most grateful for is that over the last few years I worked really hard to let this part of my past go. I had the choice to make peace with my dad before he passed away. Tears come to my eyes in gratitude that I let the resentment go, especially now as I lay in bed experiencing some of the same issues my dad went through. Now that I’m walking in my father’s shoes, I’ve realized I could have been a little kinder, more compassionate, and had more empathy. Be kind to one another. All this petty hate on social media and in the news is not fair, or nice, and definitely shows no progress in our lives and the world—in fact, it shuts down our personal progress. All of us should just take a deep breath and realize everybody has their own opinion. Everyone has their own way of thinking and that’s a good thing—just don’t hurt anybody and you’ll be fine. We are all as different and unique as our fingerprints and we need to respect those differences, not shame people into being like we are or think they should be."
One more thing Kim asked for me to share with all of you today is, “What I have learned and am most grateful for, is I have great friends. I love you all!!! I’m going to work very hard to get healthy and be there for all of you like you have been there for me. I had kind of given up on myself, but now I realize that in order to take care of me, I need to love me! So you do the same. Take care of yourselves by loving yourself. That also means you don’t let people who want to manipulate you or use you, into your life. It’s good to have boundaries. Thank you for your thoughts, kind wishes, and prayers.🙏 Thank you for loving me… I love you all... and now with all the anesthesia I’ve been on… I really need a good bowel movement!” 🤔🤣😉😂🤪
That’s my Kimmy!!! 👆😁
I was talking to some very sweet girls at the end of a meet and greet this week. Some had been through cancer and were so proud to be survivors! Three of them agreed that letting go of anger is the best medicine ever! One of them told me her doctor insisted that she sit down with a journal, think about those that had hurt her, then write it all down to release the anger she felt. Then she was told to let it go and burn the journal!!! How powerful is that??!!
As Kim said, “I have to first learn to love myself in order to truly love other people”.
And the Lord concurred with Kim when he said, ”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)
My Kimmy, the teacher, wants and hopes others can learn from him... I will keep you posted on his condition.