Of Hardships and Happiness

As per usual I know it has been a long time since I have posted on this blog. In fact, close to two years I believe, so yes for those who have read this, I am still alive and kicking.

These last two years have been very eventful, difficult, and joyous. Just to give you a brief recap and catch you up to speed, here are some of the things that went down since we last talked.

I graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, passed the NCLEX (nursing board exam to officially become a nurse), got accepted to several prestigious Nurse Graduate programs, and had a bugger of a time deciding which one to attend. In the end, I decided. (with the help of the Lord and my loved ones) I accepted an offer to attend the University of Tennessee, in particular, their Graduate Medical campus located in Memphis Tennessee.  

I also visited one of my ancestral homelands with my family, yes I know I don’t look it, but in fact, I am some small fraction native Hawaiian. Put that with all my other ancestry and you get one fine-looking dude (I am joking if you couldn’t tell, not about the Hawaiian part of course)

 

(Check out the headphones over the hood, the epitome of sexy right there)

All jokes aside, I look like this whenever I am not in scrubs or my white coat. Usually comfy, with either a baseball hat, headphones, or both on.

 

I am currently working as a nurse on an Acute Hematology and Oncology unit (Blood and Cancer, so usually we have bone marrow and stem cell transplant patients).

Memphis is an interesting city, to say the least. Although I have yet to love it like Utah or Cleveland, I am hoping it will grow on me at least a little. Granted once my schooling is done, I will be getting the heck out of dodge.

Alrighty a whole lot of other things have happened since I last posted, but that update will do for now. So on to what brings me to posting.

 If you can believe it, three years ago today I received my life-saving transplant. Three years of life with a shared body that I have been beyond blessed with.

To think a family has had to live three years without their baby boy is heartbreaking. This sets up the background for the thoughts that are inundated in my mind currently. Happiness and Hardships. These two things are so insufferably connected it still surprises each of us. Our hardships can bring us some of our happiest moments. I can’t quite explain how exactly, but they do. If we use our hardships to propel us forward, whether that is through changing ourselves, running after our dreams, or learning to make the best of the incredible lives we are given (even and maybe, especially when they can be brutal), it can lead to amazing happiness.

For example, my recent adventures here in Memphis. I honestly can say that upon arrival and even a little still I did not like this city at all. I found it not at all what I had hoped. It was so unlike Cleveland which I fell in love with very quickly. Memphis has been hard on me, incredibly so in fact. Yet as time goes on I realize that this city, just like Cleveland may very well be a life-changing place for me. I don’t know in what ways, but all I can do is try to make the best of the hardships and find the happiness.

As I reflect on my transplant every day and even more so at this time of year I remember fond memories and excruciating ones. Perhaps one more example to help me better express my thoughts and feelings. I remember not long after my transplant as I was recovering in the hospital, the girl I was dating at the time would often come spend copious amount of time with me in the hospital. On this particular day, I was having a very hard time. Anyways, I remember her walking in and chatting with my family for a second and then sitting down in the chair next to my bed, smiling at me, and grabbing my hand. It was a simple gesture, truthfully, something most couples do almost absentmindedly. Yet as she sat there and just held my hand while talking with my parents it touched my very soul. I felt like I was barely hanging on, failing at every turn, yet a simple gesture by someone I loved managed to give me just enough strength and happiness in a hard moment to push through.

Now I am not saying that you have to have hardships to be happy. Or that every hardship will always bring immense happiness. Rather if we let it, and we use them to our advantage our hardships CAN bring happiness. It is still a choice, we still have to choose to be happy. Sometimes that choice is as easy as breathing, other times it is as impossible as sprouting wings and taking flight. Regardless, let us make it easier for all those around us to choose happiness, even and especially in hardships.

I could truthfully talk for way too long about this and really anything else I feel passionate about. Well, if you get to know me well enough, I can talk about anything for way too long, so to avoid that I will wrap up. (what can I say, I love the sound of my own voice).

Three years down and hopefully many more to come. Yet if this is my last year, know that I have already been blessed with more years than I deserved, and I cannot tell you enough how much I owe it all to so many of you. Keep living, keep chasing your dreams, make bucket lists, and do those “special occasion” type things now, for today can be a special occasion, it’s all about how you look at it.  

 

Keep it real my peoples, until next time.