Friday Freebie and a Little Reflection

Gentle Friday Greetings to you all.  I hope you are all well. 
Sadly I know this is not the case for all of you and a lot of people I know are going through changes.  Considering we are one of the most adaptable species on the Earth (not always a good thing I'm afraid) we really don't do change very well.....at first.  The we reach a point where we say sod it!  Pull up our big girl/boy pants and we just get on with it.

I did try to find a piccie for big girl pants. Boy, that was a scary google search: so I decided it was safer not to bother!

But,  once we reach this point, we learn and grow and value life all the more.

Sadly, two aquaintances I know of are being affected by cancer diagnosis at the moment.  I have given what advice I can and have let them know they can contact me at anytime.  There will be highs and lows, and as one wise cancer nurse told me when I was diagnosed: there will be swings and roundabouts.  Sure  your swings may feel rollercoaster size and the roundabouts could seem the same as a black hole vortex....but there are good times. It isn't all doom and gloom.

All we can do, all we can ever do is live today: in this moment.  And this applies to us all. Tomorrow never comes so try to make something positive happen today.  Laugh at something silly: achieve something, reach a goal even if that goal is tiny.  Don't waste today.

We seem to have become sterile to death: we aren't used to it.  Our society turned death into a taboo subject and we were protected from it and so it is hard for many of us to deal with it now.

I am trying to counteract that with my children: everytime a beloved pet dies, the children say goodbye. They can stroke it and hold it, and they realise that the character that once inhabited the fur or feathers has gone: and I believe to a better place.  I don't care what churches say: I believe all life is sacred and of value.  I talk about death with my children and explain I'm not scared of death: rather I am scared of missing out on their lives.  I will miss them.  And then I let them know that I will be around, just in a different form.  I won't let them grow up afraid of what is a very natural process!

We end with a laugh and a joke; I tell them if I go before they are married, I will check out their girlfriends and say boo to them if I don't like them.  Life is too short to be serious all the time.

On another note, a friend of mine who was diagnosed with bladder cancer had a major roundabout and swing moment but Thank God: she had her scan last week and was told this week the cancer hadn't spread to her kidneys; rather there was a large fibroid affecting her and she was then told to go away for six months which in the cancer world is fantasic news: it means you are lower risk of it coming back!
So celebrations there.

I am not posting this to bring you down or make you sad: illness is a part of life and sadly a part we get to know more and more as we get older.
This is where the big girl pants come in!

Women build societies; even in cyberspace.  We help each other and we support each other: it is what we do.  We are champion networkers.  So as I have received support so do I give it.  And it makes me really, really appreciate what we have here, especially in blog land.  I have made true friendships with women I am unlikely to ever meet and wow!  How amazing is that?  We share jokes, troubles, crafy inspiration and send hugs, love and sometimes an ever so gentle reminder to put those big girl pants on!

This is a very long, roundabout way of explaining why I am offering this free chart.  Hubby says I will never make a business out of it: I keep giving them away, but I don't care.  I give them freely and with love.

If you want you can make a small donation to my cancer charity fund raising page, or the next time you go past a charity shop or collector, put in a euro/pound/doller and help a good cause.  There is such need but thank goodness they are making excellent progress in cancer research and treatments.  Everyday brings a little more hope.

Enjoy!