Not Bitter, Better!

January 31, 2016

When I was growing up, whenever I would get angry about something, my mom would say "Don't be bitter, be better." That is good advice...(hard as it is to admit that my mom was right about something- now that I am older, I realize my parents weren't (and aren't) as dumb as I thought they were!)

Like everyone, I have had my share of ups and downs in life. There is a choice in all of that... to let those experiences make us bitter or to let them mold us into being better. I want to choose the latter.

When Courtland was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, I felt deflated. I was relieved to have a diagnosis, but I started to go through a lot of emotions like anger. That is a natural response and it is okay to be angry, but it is not a place to stay or to live.

Life is not fair and for those of us who have a child with a disability, it's really easy to become bitter. We are bitter because our child doesn't walk and maybe we have given up hope that he will; we are bitter that people around us make small talk and pretend they know what we are going through when really they don't have a clue.... and the list goes on. I think each of us think that we are entitled to feel bitter, but should we really feel that way?

One day I was pondering my life and thinking about Courtland. He inspires me so much. He is the inspiration for the Foundation and he makes me want to be a better person. It was then that I realized that though there were a lot of things I could be and probably was bitter about, that I should try to "Be better not bitter." Again, it is a choice but it is not always an easy choice. I want to be the kind of mom who will set up a lemonade stand with Courtland with those bitter lemons that life has handed him, and teach him by example that something wonderful like lemonade (life when sweetened by an attitude of graditude) can be made from those bitter lemons. 

Be BETTER (be the lemonade) NOT BITTER (like the sour unsweetened lemons!)