So my great friend Nick sent me a rather curious text the other morning that said, “red, orange or green??” I thought about it for all of two seconds and as my eyes are green and I’ve always gravitated towards things that match them, I responded with “Green!! Always Green!!” 

    I then went about the rest of my day and didn’t give a whole lot more thought to the mysterious case of “red, orange or green”. But what I did do, was help my neighbor Anna with her twins and listen to them talk endlessly about “Thomas The Tank” which got me thinking about “The Little Engine That Could”. 

    Sometimes I think my inner monologue just becomes, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”…because it’s one of those phrases that if you say it enough, you start to believe it. I’m not saying I’m anything special or powerful but I will say I have the ability to endure. And sometimes people ask me, “where do you find the strength to keep going?” Honestly?? I just believe “if you think you can, you will and if you believe in your heart and soul you have the strength to move mountains, you are going to.” They say mothers have found the strength to move cars off of children in life or death situations. 

    There is something in us all called a “fight or flight” response. (Also known as “acute stress response”). It’s an animal instinct we perceive in highly stressful situations such as when our life is being threatened or if we are in an extreme amount of pain. The response is exactly what it sounds like, “run for your life” or “fight for your life”. It’s what I’m sure saved many more lives outside that Ariana Grande concert a few days ago in Manchester, England when there was a bomb that went off primarily targeting women and children. Times like that it can be hard to find the GOOD STUFF but I will never stop looking for it. I came across an article about two homeless men who absolutely acted on the stress of the situation and became inadvertent heroes as a result. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/world/europe/homeless-hero-manchester.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com

     They ran toward the commotion not away and helped all night. Comforting, making make-shift bandages, extracting nails when appropriate, and just being overall good citizens. 

     It is people like that who I have encountered in my own life who help me keep my mantra of “I think I can, I think I can” and make me believe in “The Greater Good”.

     Oh yeah, and Nick…well he brought me back a little green train Engine from his trip to Washington DC. He said, it was because, like a train, I just “never stop going”. He might have been referencing my ability to talk most people under the table, but either way, I loved it & immediately snatched it from his hands. It’s green and it’s GOOD & it’s mine!