Pammy Land

My cousin Pam once told me that when she gets overwhelmed with the trials and tribulations of life she goes to Pammy Land. I asked her what and where is Pammy Land. She said it's a place she goes to in her mind.

"It's a happy place,' she said. "A place where everybody loves you and you love them. There is no loss, no hurt and no heartbreak in Pammy Land. It's the closest you can get to Heaven without having to die to get there."

When I told my husband about Pammy Land He just laughed and shook his head. The first time Pam told me about it, I confess, I laughed too.

But over the years as I faced the disappointments, losses and heartaches that come with living, sometimes I got overwhelmed. I'm normally a very positive person. When I face a difficulty I usually try to identify the problem, plan possible solutions and then take action. If plan A doesn't work, I move on to plan B and so on until I get some resolution.

But sometimes bad or upsetting things happen that we have absolutely no control over. We didn't cause the problem and we have absolutely no way of being involved in any possible solution. But it can still have a great impact on us emotionally.

An example of that is just listening to the nightly news. People are randomly killing other people. Little babies are being born deformed because of a mosquito bite and politicians just throw insults at each other instead of telling us how they plan to help our country. Couple that with our everyday challenges of living and sometimes it can just get you down.

That's when it's a good time to go to Pammy Land. We all have a Pammy Land. We just don't call it that and we don't tell anyone about it because we're afraid they'll laugh at us. But we have one. At least I think everyone has a Pammy Land.

If they don't they should get one and go there for a visit. Just don't stay there. Keep smiling.

Linda Messmer can be reached at 812-448-8725.