Trust Your Journey Message Board

It seems that just about every week people share stories with me about past unpleasant experiences that they’re holding onto for dear life.  These “tales of the past” most likely change every time they relate them, but the endings are always the same--they’re not talking to or associating with that person because of what was said or done many years ago.  Unfortunately, the shunning is usually directed at family members or even good friends that said or did something that was considered offensive.  It’s regrettable that those incidents aren’t confronted immediately since many times the meaning of a person’s words or actions is misinterpreted by the offended person.  However, even if you haven’t “cleared the air” in the ensuing years, I can assure you that time will indeed heal the great majority of wounds, if only you’ll allow the mending to take place.  I believe there are many paths beyond the hurt and strain in any relationship.
 
There is no better time than today to move beyond your “hold ups” and let those hurts move on down the stream of life like just so much water flowing under a bridge.  If we don’t let go, our minds will gradually make these perceived offenses appear much worse than they really were.  Often the person toward whom we bear a grudge wasn’t being mean-spirited at all; it was merely a slip of the tongue or an ambiguous statement or action that was misinterpreted.  Always try to understand that the other person might’ve been in a bad place at the moment those unfortunate remarks were made.  Forgiveness can be face to face, long distance, or just a mental release of the incident.  Life is short and well worth whatever effort it takes to repair a relationship.  There’s no substitute for letting unpleasant experiences in our past become just so much water under the bridge.
 
“What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.” ~unknown

An Inspirational Story from a new friend of TYJ, Judy:
My1st journey started in 1996 when I noticed my eyesight was becoming blurry (like looking at life through cheesecloth). I contacted my opthamolgist and after a thorough examination, it was determined that my left optic nerve was swollen and hemorrhaging. In all of his years of practice, he had never seen this before. Within weeks, I was completely blind. After months of intense testing at our local hospital, UVA and John Hopkins, it was determined that I had Optic Neuritis, a not so well known disease that often leads to MS. As is sometimes the case, my vision slowly imporoved over the next 9 months. I was able to continue to work with the aid of magnifying glasses and many of my so called "seeing eye friends". I was unable to drive for 5 years (thanks to my many, many friends who drove "Miss Daisy" pretty much everywhere). Life went on and I adjusted. In 2008 I lost my job of 20 years (right when the stock market bottomed out). Then began my 2nd journey to reinvent myself and find a new job . . but during that journey, I found myself in the hospital for a routine CAT scan that uncovered I had 2 blocked arteries in my heart . . Journey #3 . . within 2 weeks, I had 2 stents and an ICD (implanted cardiac device). Those 2 weeks were scary as I had to be revived two separate times. By the way, I never did get that CAT scan :) Now back to journey #2 . . the job. After 15 months of unemployment and recovering from the surprise of my heart attack, I found a new job! Things calmed down and I was h oping my reoccuring journeys had finally come to an end. . Revisit journey #1. One of the medications I was on for my heart caused my Optic Neuritis to flare up .. my vision started fading again. As luck (or God) would have it, I visited a new opthamologist who had written a paper on my disease. One of my heart meds was causing my ON to flare. We changed the med, but my vision is what it is today. Even so, I am blessed to have some vision and to be able to continue to work. Life is full of journeys!

We are often asked about the Share Bracelets and how the idea came about. During my chemotherapy for cancer I went into a chemo depression. It was a wet paper sack I could not get out of no matter how much positive thinking I put into it. Prior to starting my chemo the niece of a dear friend had made 25 or so bracelets for myself, friends and family to wear until I was through with my cancer treatments. In those darkest of nights, during my chemo depression, I could look down at that bracelet on my wrist and know all of those special people were there for me--not physically but their love and energy always surrounded me. I tell everyone that those simple bracelets were the greatest gift I have ever received. Just to know that 20+ people were sharing this part of my journey with me was priceless.

Today the journey is shared by many who are going through not only the challenges in life but also the milestones. The TYJ Share Products are that little reminder that someone is there for you--lifting you up and cheering you along the way.

I am a breast cancer survivor. I am currently in the process of writing a book (hopefully inspirational) about the decisions in my life and how they played out for me. However, sometimes God steps in to remind us He has a different plan for us than what we decide. WOW!! Did I ever learn that in a profound way. Back to the cancer. I was diagnosed in 1994, haddd a modified radical mastectomy, chemo and radiation therapy. I have lived a pretty healthy life since then. UNTIL NOW. I was notified that my breast cancer from 17 years ago has metastisized to my bones and I now am living with bone cancer. There is no cure for this and it can only be treated with chemo. The good news from this is that even though there is no cure, it can be controllable just as diabetes is. In the past few weeks, God sent me the message that I am not done here. I have more to do and I believe this cancer is my wake up to stop prograstinating (of which I am the worst) and get my message out. I found your bracelets in a catalog that I get through the mail and Trust Your Journey touched me to the soul!!! After 63 years and many valleys in my life, I have finally learned what this means!! To all mankind out there who have doubts, make decisions that don't turn out how you expect them to, get knocked in your backside with unexpected problems, I hope this website will help you! It already has me. Thank you so much!