There are a lot of folks in this world that mistake kindness for weakness, when it is actually strength. I was empathetic before I had a brain aneurysm rupture; since I’m beyond fortunate to still be alive, I’ve decided to double-down. The days have been a little rough, but I’m above ground, so I can’t complain. I’ve decided that I’m going to extend kindness and compassion at every available opportunity in my life. I’m not cleared for work or driving yet, so I don’t venture out in public much, but I will treat every interaction as a privilege. I’m beyond happy that, for some reason, I was able to get a second lease on life and I aim to take full advantage of it. 
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When we survive a rupture we learn gratitude in a big way, don’t we? I liken it to the movie “Pay it forward”.
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Absolutely! I just thought I was grateful before; the contrast is astounding!
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Absolutely! I also became fixated on telling people to hug the ones they love instead of just saying goodbye even when I’m talking to a stranger on the phone!
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So very important! Make time for the things & people that genuinely matter. I firmly believe that at the end of our life, the only thing that really matters are the genuine relationships we had. Hugs are an integral part of that.
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We learn to avoid chaos and argumentative people as well. After I ruptured I started telling BH “Guess what honey? I’m loving you today”. If anything happens I want those to be the words BH remembers.
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Yep! If people don’t add to you then they take away. It’s always best to surround yourself with folks that want more for you and less from you, if possible. If it weren’t for my BH, I wouldn’t be alive right now. She is supremely golden in my book and I can’t thank her enough for saving my life. When I was younger I was a little obsessed with making the hyphen between the birth date and death date mean something; I’m even more so now.
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