AN INSPIRING STORY

Many, many thanks to my fantastic friends for taking the time and trouble to write lovely, wonderful, practical and useful comments on my previous post. I appreciate it very much.

I thought I will reproduce one real life inspiring story from Rain MacSweeney. You will see for yourself how she lifted herself from the depths of despair and despondency, how she extricated herself from the quagmire of misery, suffering, loneliness and a state of hopelessness and unhappiness to a heights of joy, peace,delight and happiness. I am sure you will enjoy it and appreciate the immense practical wisdom contained in it.

Please visit her blog—A Walk in the Woods --- and check it out for yourself. I am sure it will be the beginning of a wonderful friendship. I hope you won’t forget to say HELLO to her on my behalf

Rain said...

Hello Joseph! I'm very interested in this post, your words and what the other people had to say. This subject has been on my mind lately because I often used to compare my life with that of living under house arrest here in Quebec. Yes, I made the choice to move here, but I didn't think it through. I used to be bored very often, and boredom leads to lethargy, which leads to laziness, which leads to idleness...and I believe that, in my case, being idle leads to self-destruction. I had no money for gas for the car, so I was really stuck inside. For many months, I sat by the window crying because I had no inclination to do anything; I felt very alone as an English woman living here with no English services, the nearest English library was an hour drive away, the nearest English theatre, 2 hours away. I was deep in debt and couldn't buy books or rent movies. My only outlet was the internet for a long time.

But then something happened, I made a decision one day (unconscious I believe because I don't remember saying it out loud), that until I could afford to move, I had to make the best of it. So, I took a walk on the mountain. Then I took another one the next day, and so on...you've seen my photos! When I made the choice to seize the day and take pleasure in nature, as simple as she is, my life changed and my happiness exploded. I stopped dwelling on the past, and can truly say that 99% of the time, I live in the moment, for today, but look forward to what's next, it's very exciting!

As far as faith goes, I am still on the fence. I was brought up Catholic - very strictly and with many hypocritical nuances. I do feel as though there is something more to just this life on earth, but my faith lies in knowing that I will always have an even better day than yesterday.

Also, I think that the world can be torturous for those poor people who suffer mental illness without having the resources for help, or who are in fact beyond medical help. I think it's important to realize that. A healthy mind can make a choice, an unhealthy one cannot make the right choice.

I think that this world is torture to those who have been beaten down by people and life...and have not yet had the epiphanies that people like me have had.

-->I wasn't always this happy, I lived in a torturous world for 40 years. But now, being reborn, open eyes, veils lifting daily...I do believe that life is just the opposite.

July 31, 2009 12:14 AM

It is another story of struggle about how RAIN got her name:

"Hi Joseph! You can believe that every word I utter is the truth! :) It's no secret that when I left my past behind me, that I legally changed my first and last names. I chose Rain as my first name because I wanted to represent my love for water and the weather. It also signified a "cleansing" as rain washes away the old and creates growth for the new! I felt I needed a completely fresh start in order to get past the past, so to speak! I actually had some arguments from the Quebec government here, they refused Rain as a first name because they said it was QUOTE "Too Holywood"...silly huh?...so I wrote a 10 page letter as to why it would be beneficial to my happiness, and after 2 years of bureaucracy, they accepted it in 2006! That was my decision and I've never looked back! Thanks for asking!"