A while back I got a call from my friend Sue and heard the news about Penny, one of Sue’s best friends and someone that I used to hang out with a lot when I lived in Chicago. She’s beautiful, sweet, totally real, and is very happily married with two loving children. Life was good.

The News

When the phone rang, and I heard Sue’s voice, I knew there was something really wrong. I’ve known her since I was 14, and she’s like my Spiritual Sister; we’ve been through everything together, so I could definitely tell something was up.

“What’s going on?” I said as I picked up on her energy.

“It’s Penny…something REALLY bad happened.”

“What is it?”

“She was on vacation with her family in California, and she felt sick, really sick, with a fever, so they took her to the emergency room; they told her she would be OK, and they sent her home. She was getting on the plane to go back to Chicago, but she felt worse, a lot worse, so bad that she had to be rushed back to the hospital. She ended up having a 104 fever…now she’s in a coma, and it doesn’t look good.”

“Oh my God…she’s only 45, well what’s wrong with her?”

“She has Toxic Shock Syndrome, and her organs are shutting down.”

My first thought was:

“Well how the hell could they have not known that, they could have caught it earlier and helped her, instead of just blindly sending her home.”

I remember at that moment that I was instantly blaming the doctors and the hospital, thinking how could they overlook something like that and “send her home”, she could have died, and now she’s in a frickin’ coma. But we just started praying and visualizing her being OK, and every time we talked, we would just see her coming out of this, because she’s such a positive, spiritual woman, and we knew something good could come out of it.

Time dragged on and on, still laying there in that hospital room in a coma, a step away from deaths door.

She was in the coma for 3 months, her body and life force slowly fading away, it didn’t look like she was going to make it, and she was starting to have complications with her fingers, legs, and feet.

So, like anyone that’s done the work, we were prepared for the worse, BUT we kept focused on her coming out of this, because deep down we KNEW that she was the type of woman, that would do something with this, and use it for good. That’s just who she is. And after you do as much work as we’ve all done, that’s how you live your life, there’s always going to be stuff, challenges, tragedies, and obstacles that come up, and it’s how we handle them that effects our lives, even the possibility of death, is just another part of the Human Condition that we have to embrace and learn to accept.

Which Brings Up The Idea Of “Perspective”

I just finished a great book called “The Noticer” by one of my favorite writers, storytellers, and former comedian, Andy Andrews, the subtitle of the book is, “Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective.” A big lesson for us, especially in smaller, every day stuff that we rub up against in our lives or complain about, (and most of us have NOTHING to really complain about), it’s ALL how you perceive it, and my view is, if you’re still breathing, you have SOMETHING to be thankful for. If you get quiet and just notice and observe things, you can usually find a real good solution or a different way to look at what’s going on.

So What Happened To Penny?

After 3 months, she woke up, she finally came out of the coma, weighing somewhere around 90 pounds, she lost some part of all her fingers, all of her hair, several toes, and one of her legs had to be amputated from the knee down.

She went through hell, but she’s alive… she fought to live. She could have easily made the choice to crawl in a hole and die, or feel totally horrible and sorry for herself, rightly so, life thew her a serious curve ball, but she didn’t. She could have chosen to be embarrassed having lost her beautiful appearance, but she didn’t. She could have turned around and been incredibly angry, asking why me, and maybe even file a lawsuit against the hospital for malpractice, but she didn’t.

She chose a different perspective, she chose to embrace “what is” and to DO something with it. She chose to see it as something beautiful, however painful, to do something important with. She’s now writing a book to share her story, and to go out and give talks, to empower people, help people, and share her incredible spirit and gratitude for life which will have a major impact on people, I’m sure of it…(and intuitively I knew she was going to do this, Sue and I talked about it, and we just knew that she was going to wake up and do something incredible with her circumstances, it’s just flat out who she is.)

I created a slogan for this Blog that means something to me that puts it all in proper perspective:

“Living in a Human Suit…is for Spirits Living in Human Suits, who KNOW that we’re NOT really the Suits”

So anyone that REALLY gets the Spiritual path knows that the body is just a Human Suit, and nothing has really happened to the “real” Penny, or can happen to the “real” us. Yes, it’s still a big challenge, yes, it can be very painful and emotional, and yes, life can throw some wicked curves at you, but at some level, I believe that there’s always a higher reason, something Divine at work, bigger than us that may just have a reason for all the so called tragedies and pains that we go through, but she chose to live in total gratitude for her life, to be grateful for being here, grateful to be able to still love her beautiful children and husband, and grateful for her very breath of life…all despite her big challenge, AND she’s using it for good.

I totally respect and admire her for her strength, attitude, love, and courage to be fully alive no matter what. That’s why I wanted to tell her story, so keep an eye out for her, you go Penny!

Life is For Living…so how are you living?

The Big Question For You Is

What in your life, (small or major), is keeping you from feeling happy, something you’re struggling with?  What can you change your perspective on RIGHT NOW, and use it for something good to serve other people? Something that would shine the spotlight on the power of the Human Heart and the Human Spirit like Penny has? What can you be happy about right now, despite thoughts or circumstances to the contrary?

I would love for you to share it below in the comments, and anything else that you care to share with the community.

One of the greatest things I’ve learned to grasp is that whenever you feel sad, hurt, angry, or experience any other emotion that comes up, you can always CHOOSE to see it from a different perspective, a different angle, and look for the good in it, no matter how much it hurts; there’s always something there that’s a gift you can use to share with others.

Now go shine your light in the world, we’re waiting…

I hope that you enjoyed this post. Please leave a comment, and Retweet it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, and any other place that you would like, and if you’re not on the newsletter, please sign up for that, and tell your friends, so we can share all the great stories, conversations, and discussions that are coming.