“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton
“If you have aspirin, please take it now. It might be bitter, but if you’re having a heart attack, it will help.”
If I wasn’t already anxious, hearing this advice the nurse gave me certainly didn’t help. Fifteen minutes later, I was in the emergency room—a 34-year-old, physically-fit, overachieving, workaholic, enabling control freak—having the classic symptoms of a heart attack.
As I sat on the hospital bed, breathing as deeply as I could into what was happening, my mind started to race: Was it being unwittingly thrust into the role of referee between my Dad and brother last weekend?
Was it yet another significant transition in an already fast-paced and changing work environment?
Was it worrying about where to get the money for my uninsured mother to get the health care she needed for her pre-existing condition?
What was to blame? (more…)