I was convinced I was dying.  As a matter of fact, there was no way you could convince me otherwise.  Oddly I accepted my fate and whispered to my husband “call 911, I’m dying”.  I was sweating profusely, I could feel my heartbeat in my neck and my pulse echoed in my ears.  I couldn’t breathe, my face felt weird, my hands were numb, and I was shaking like a leaf.  EMS arrived and tried with all their might to convince me I wasn’t dying, but I was convinced they just wanted me to die peacefully without a fight.  After some deep breathing and close monitoring I realized I wasn’t dying and was told I had an anxiety attack. 

A few months ago a very good friend of mine said to me, “the majority of your frustrations are due to your unrealistic expectations.”  I didn’t know how to feel about her statement.  There I sat venting to her about the frustrations of my life, waiting for her to co-sign on my misery, and that’s what she gave me.  I have to admit that it stung a little, but I slowly began to realize it was the truth.

My parents taught me to follow the Golden Rule – to do unto others as I would have them do unto me.  This is something that followed me into my adult life.  The funny thing is that I missed a very important piece.  The rule is do unto others AS you would have them to do unto you.  The reality is that you don’t always get what you give.