10,000

 

Yesterday was a strange day. It started off not so pleasant with anger arising (from me) because of a certain situation which then turned to sadness because of the realization that some things and people will never change. Then at work someone passed out and stopped breathing, ‘code blue’. I was at a hospital so you think it would be a ‘normal’ occurrence but generally it’s not in a waiting room. About an hour later it happened again, then about an hour after that an older woman standing in the tall lobby area (with great acoustics by the way) started singing at the top of her lungs which stopped people in their tracks and maybe even scared some. Really. She stopped walking, started singing, then after her song was done she kept walking, all this before noon.I hadn’t slept that well the night before so I felt like I was in partial dream state. Despite the crazy events of the morning the one thing that I couldn’t shake for most of the day was the anger/sadness I felt right at the beginning which stemmed from a long history of control and manipulation; I couldn’t shake the anger and maybe the frustration.

I read the other day that according to sociologists even the most introverted individual will influence 10,000 other people during his or her lifetime. Think about that, that’s about the population of Traverse City, MI (~15,000) or Sedona, AZ (~10,000). A single person, even an introvert, will influence a small town in their lifetime. How does that happen? Words and actions; not just one or the other, both together. The start of my morning yesterday? Almost a lifetime of actions contradicting words with me cleaning up the shrapnel from actions that are far reaching. The actions of those surrounding the two ‘code blue’s’? Medically quick of course, but loved ones surrounding them, using words and prayers to comfort each other. The woman singing? ‘Jesus is a friend of mine’~”He taught me to live, my life as it should be. He taught me how to turn my cheek when people laugh at me. I’ve had friends before, and I can tell you that, He’s one who will never leave you flat.” I needed that, so maybe that was just for me.

There’s nothing more frustrating than someone whose words don’t match their actions. Don’t spew out bible verses if they are twisted in a way to fit your needs and judge others. Don’t talk about loving others then throw out hate language for certain groups of people or nationalities. Don’t talk about peace, patience, kindness, when what comes out of your mouth (which really stems from what’s in your heart), is hateful or hurtful because the consequences of that can leave long lasting scars.My day ended well.Grateful for the love I have found and the life I have now, and grateful for the constant reminder that we impact other people every single day. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers he says that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to perfect something. Hopefully it doesn’t take that 10,000th person in our lifetime to recieve our best. 10,000 people. What legacy will you leave behind?

Today no lipstick, it’s all about a lip balm. Last month I bought an all natural lip balm made mostly of emu oil, yes from an emu. Now, I don’t want to even think of how they get oil out of an emu, all I know is it’s the best lip balm I’ve used for my extremely dry winter lips. I’m hoping I can find it locally since I bought it from a store about 4 hours away. It’s great, and lipstick never looks good on dry lips! Cheers!

Tags: Anna Warner, cancer, cancer survivor, faith, friends, hope, inspiration, life lessons, lipstick, lipstick journey, My Lipstick Journey Through Cancer, relationships, thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer survivor