21 YEARS

I AM A SURVIVOR!

A lot can happen in 21 years! That's more than two decades. It's just six years shy of being half my life! Let me provide the highlights:

Overcame depression

Bought first house

Adopted children

Found love

Found myself

Loved myself good

Moved to Indiana

Found my beach

Lived near the mountains in Boulder

Raised kids

Lived a life

Now I'm not done. I'm not dying. I'm celebrating my life!

You see, 21 years ago on this day, I tried to end it. I wanted and attempted to take my own life by asphyxiation. Thankfully, I failed!

It was the one failure in my life I could accept.

Up until that moment, I told myself I had lived a long string of failures...that I WAS A FAILURE!!! I won't go into all the reasons why. It just was who I was at the time.

Today, I stand tall as a survivor.

Look at the list above of all the things I would have missed out on, namely BECOMING A DAD! I would've missed out on the two biggest blessings in my life. Their names are MERIKATHRYN DOYLE & MAKENNA DOYLE!!!

I think of all the friendships I would have never cherished, the stages I would have never rocked, all the meals I would have never cooked or enjoyed, the blog posts I would have never written, the simple everyday treasures of life I would have missed.

Goodness and mercy sure have followed me. I am humbled. I am blessed.

Here's to 21 more precious years--to explore the depths of love, who I am and who I can become. Life as a survivor is much sweeter than life as a perceived failure!!!

Thanks for being a friend, listening and celebrating life with me.