I never marched in a parade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never climbed a mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never published a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never invented anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never took in foster kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never surfed in the ocean or ran a race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never had intelligent conversations with people of great influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never sailed a ship or galloped on a horse, or swam with the dolphins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never was a famous talk show host or took dancing lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never traveled the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never had a ton of money nor clinked glasses with the wealthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never laid my life down for a cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never had any influence whatsoever in a political arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never and I never and I never…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes the Nevers whisper to me and bat about my head, and when I entertain them and give them a place to sit at my table, and when I listen and agree with them, I somehow feel I lived a life of very little importance. A life just not worth talking about. And when I’m stuck dining with the Nevers, it appears that everyone else is eating with the Haves. And then I feel bad and slouch in my seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I say, “Shut up, you taunting and useless Nevers,” and turn my gaze and welcome in the Haves; I rise up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have birthed and raised two children who have become lovely vibrant adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have sat in the company of the hurting and brought comfort to the broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned to type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have encouraged those who have misplaced their steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have followed a career path that gave me more joy than I could contain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned to communicate with eloquence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have overcome a debilitating mental illness and addictions and have lived in twenty years of a sober and sound mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have stopped lying and speak the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned to turn off the TV and read a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have learned social media is only a bunch of people giving sometimes flabby opinions and has nothing to do with what I hold true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have painstakingly learned God loves me, and for all eternity, that will never change. Not a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have, in place of apathy, learned to be kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have, in place of divisive competition, learned to help others on similar journeys find their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have, and I have, and I have…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then miraculously when my Haves wash over me, ushered in are the I AM’S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am courageous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am a champion for the ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am cherished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am all-inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am funny and can make people laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am empowered to carry the kindness of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And from The Great I Am, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am gifted to relish in my story, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of all the Nevers, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all the Haves,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the whole of who I AM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I never marched in a parade. I never climbed a mountain. I never published a book. I never invented anything. I never took in foster kids. I never surfed in the ocean or ran a race. I never had intelligent conversations with people of great influence. I never sailed a ship or galloped on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-menopause"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1139"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions\/1150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janbrehm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}