Everything Happens for a Reason (Even Brain Tumors)

That sounds terrible doesn't it? True, though. Let me paint you a couple pictures.

Before:

Age 21, overambitious opera diva. 3 hours of vocal practice, 1 hour of piano, 2 hours of physical exercise and 6 hours of sleep a day. Deans list. Staff soloist at local church. Accepted to prestigious conservatory with high potential to intern at major opera company. Engaged to be married to aspiring doctor/pilot.

Fast-forward through: Sudden long-lasting diaphragmatic seizures lead to brain tumor being found. Diagnosis uncertain. Six weeks of bedrest due to seizures and prescribed narcotic. Effective anticonvulsant eventually found.

After:

Age 24, church musician and music tutor. Assistant choir director and staff soloist at local church. No longer able to reliably stand for more than half an hour at a time, thus nullifying an opera career. Aspiring music minister and arts journalist. Happily married to a pilot who just got into medical school.

Do you think I sound sad? I'm not. People who have known me as a driven diva find that hard to believe. Life changed. That part is gone. I am not sad about it. I was sad, and I mourned. I gave it up for my health, because I know my body and what it is capable of.

I've found a home in that local church. Music and religion move people, their faith becomes clearer, they are touched, they are bound together. I've found this is something I always want to be a part of, and I will be. Maybe you're not religious, but certainly all people can understand the need to be part of something greater than themselves.

I am content.