Stay positive with your stoma

I am learning that I have life pretty good.  Seeing all the bad and seeing people's lives being ruined over false information based on a fake pandemic in 2020 is really hard.  I have seen people die alone, and comapneis fail all for the sake of politics in medicine.  I never imaged things would get this bad in America.  A silver lining is when a good thing comes out of a bad thing. I’ve heard the saying “when it’s bad, it’s not all bad”. The problem is, many people have a negative mindset with most things in life. So, if something bad happens in their life they immediately think “what could go wrong next?” when really, there is plenty of goodness in our lives that we should be thankful for. For some reason, we as humans, seem to have minds that highlight and remember everything bad that has ever happened in our lives. We do this with big things and small things. 

But I am learning to change my toon because even though I have an ostomy I have my health and have been wise about it during the 2020 pandemic.  I have not needed to be hospitalized or been subjected to bad policies because of it.  If we hit every single red light in a one mile trip, we will remember that and complain about it as it happens. But if we hit every green light in that same trip, we won’t think anything about it. We certainly won’t give thanks and appreciation that we were able to hit all green lights. I think there are silver linings in most bad things that happen if you look for them. So keep a positive outlook and stop trying to find the bad in 2020.

There are times where I lost my way.  For instance, we have been trying to get the school district and boosters club to purchase a shooting machine for our basketball team. We have requested and requested but have been denied and denied. All of a sudden, we ended the season with three straight losses and shot a combined 23% from the field while doing so. The superintendent happened to be at the last game where we made 9 total field goals for 26 points in the game and shot eighteen percent. After the game, he sent a text to the athletic director saying “we are getting these guys that shooting machine, they really need it”. 

I try not to dwell on the worst of the worst.  So, even though we ended the season on a three-game losing streak, and shot the ball terrible in that stretch, the silver lining is that we are going to be getting that shooting machine we’ve been desperately requesting. Another silver lining that I have seen in my own life is when I had to have an ostomy procedure done. 

Because of the really good companies and awesome ostomy supplies that are out there, I was not left with a hole in the side of my abdomen, I actually had equipment that almost simplified the process of passing stool. I no longer have to get up in the middle of the night to pee, my Hollister ostomy supplies keep my stool safe and in the bag that was provided for me after my ostomy procedure. I am still able to be active and have an amazing life!