I Vote for the Ups...

This is our last day of CMT Awareness Month.  Does that mean the last day for awareness of this disease?  I certainly hope not!  It needs to continue to grow, and grow, and GROW.  The light needs to shine on its existence.  So in the future, people with CMT will be diagnosed in a timely fashion, rather than searching for answers for many years.  So in the future, when I see a new medical professional and tell them I have CMT, I don't have to hear "What's that?" or "Is that a problem with your teeth?"  So in the future, everyone will just KNOW.  That is one of many dreams I have...I hope I'm around to see it happen.

In the meantime, I'm focusing on the Ups.  What are they?  The Ups are those moments that make you smile, make you blush sometimes...the moments that make you happy.  Those other moments are still there, intertwined with the Ups like tangled string...and sometimes you can't get the knots out.  Those are the Downs...and they happen, sometimes bringing you to your knees.  With CMT, I've seen many Downs, some of them the knee rocking kind.  I hate those moments. There's no blushing involved...just frustration, tears and sometimes pure anger!  I'm sure everyone has experienced their own Downs at some point in time, whether they have CMT or not...though I've learned that when you do have it, you appreciate the Ups all the more.

This month I'm happy to say has involved many Ups...and not a lot of Downs, at least not the major ones.  I won the 'I'm a STAR' award (YAY!) and just found out that I also won awards for my paintings that were featured in Artist's World Magazine...Best Use of Color, Best Abstract, and Best in Mixed Media.  Triple YAY!  This is one of those happy, blushing moments.  And I got to share it with my fellow CMT artists, Melinda (Best Photo--Surrealism) and Lenka (Best Photo--Realism.)  Congratulations, girls!  I hope we all have more of these happy experiences in our futures!

Cause quite frankly, I like it here.  I like the Ups...I want to have more of them.  I know those other moments will appear in my future, though when I couldn't say...like I mentioned in my last post, there's no guidebook.  And that's life I guess...the most complicated, difficult and wonderful journey, with no map.  Even though you have some control over the paths you follow, mostly you just have to wing it.  Though if I get a choice, I vote for the Ups...cause they make those other moments easier to bear.  With them, you get through the tangled forest, and see the trees...and each positive, tiny little detail shines through!