And oftentimes, when I've done that, I've run into a skunk.

Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast. I'm your host, racy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life, that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting, while doing so with humor and light. Welcome.

Today I'm going to talk about changes, changes in life, changes in the way things go, natural changes. It's just how it happens. It's just the way life goes. It's a natural occurrence that life is going to change as you keep living it. Now, for those of you who are regular listeners, if you go back six months, it's been six months, believe it or not, since we lost our horse, dallas, and he was a horse. We had him for almost 23 years. He was a member of the family. He was a member of the family and I'm not sure that my heart has been broken that badly in a long time.

I'm not saying it's the worst heartbreak I've ever felt, but it's definitely one of the top five. I think it's been difficult. I can talk about him. Now We'll see if I start crying, but it's hard for me to look at his picture for very long without starting to feel very sad, so I try not to do that. I do think about him every day. I talk to him often. A friend of ours gave us a wind chime with a very heartfelt saying on it and it's out in the tree that I'm looking at now. So sometimes not all the time but sometimes when the wind blows it will chime and I'll talk to him. And I talk to him other times as well. He's in a box in the living room and when I go by, most of the time I'll talk to him and I think about him, like I said, every day. I thought about the changes in my life the other day because really a big part of my life changed the day he passed on.

Dallas was my boy, he was our horse, but going to see him in the barn where he lived was also a big part of my life, part of my life. It was an exercise opportunity getting out, getting fresh air, moving around, lifting things and walking. It was a social experience, talking to people, seeing people, and it was a routine. And all of a sudden all those things stopped abruptly. At first I felt a great sense of panic trying to deal with that, because I felt kind of trapped in my house. In my house I didn't want to just go out driving. My mental state was not that great, so I didn't want to just drive because I was very upset. I didn't want to go to the barn without him being there. That was too sad and honestly I haven't really been back and honestly I haven't really been back. I've only been back once since he passed away. I've thought about going back, but it's still just too hard, and so I tried to busy myself with activities here at the house at night, things that I tried to make up the time for right. This didn't just affect me, it affected my husband too, in both of our routines, because he would often practice on his guitar while I was gone, and so he's had to adjust, make that adjustment as well.

It was also time for me to reflect. I really enjoyed being outside at night in the fresh air, and so sometimes I'll still go out in our backyard and sit and commune with nature, if you will. But somehow it's just not the same, and oftentimes when I've done that I've run into a skunk. So I have to be careful. And it's safer sometimes to be inside, and it's safer sometimes to be inside as you go through your life.

There are certainly opportunities for your life to change and as you go through your life, you'll notice that things do change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Sometimes we feel like our situation will never get better. But, as I've learned and as people have told me, told me, nothing ever stays the same forever, and that's just part of well, rebounding from the things that happen to you, being resilient, if you will. I guess there are things that it's harder to be resilient about, right, and there's things that can well they could actively destroy us if we're not resilient. So being resilient is a good skill to have, even if it's difficult, even if it's hard, even if it's difficult, even if it's hard, even if it's emotional, being resilient is important. This is what I've learned over the course of my life today, and I'll miss him every day for the rest of my life. Well, on that note, that's all I've got for today.

Next week we'll tackle another topic hopefully a better, more fun topic together. I hope you'll join me. If you like this episode, please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on and consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review. It helps others to find us. Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well. Visit my Instagram page Only Child Diaries or Facebook Only Child Diaries Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm Tracy Wallace and these are the Only Child Diaries.