What I Learned From Season 9 of Roseanne

The first eight seasons of Roseanne feature an instrumental theme song. However, Season 9, which was the last season before it went off the air the first time, has some lyrics that caught my attention. They go like this:

If what doesn't kill us is making us stronger,
We're gonnna last longer
Than that greatest wall in China
Or that rabbit with the drum

If there's one thing that I learned
While waiting for my turn,
It's that in each life some rain falls
But you also get some sun

And we'll make out better than okay
Hear what I say
Hey, any day

Yes, I know all about the racist comment that Roseanne made on Twitter, but that’s not what I’m here to discuss.

I took the time to look up who wrote those lyrics. They were written and performed by John Popper of the band Blues Traveler. Honestly, blues isn’t my thing, but there’s something about Roseanne and those lyrics in particular that speak to me. It’s implied that life is going to have it’s ups and downs. It’s going to be downright crappy at times. But if you can find the humor in a situation, you’ll pull through.

I tried to think of a witty, profound quote to reinforce the old saying that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head. So, I’m going to switch things up some by telling you about my own experience.

In the fall of 2015 I was in a car accident that resulted in me getting whiplash. They did MRIs of my neck and back. As far as I know, I did not tear any ligaments. For me whiplash was a widespread sprain/strain.

However, most sprains go away after a few weeks, or so I thought. Weeks turned into months, which turned into years. I keep limber by doing yoga daily, but still run into problems.

I was using a pillow that had been advertized on TV. I quickly learned that this particular pillow definately fell short of what they advertized on TV, but, not wanting to believe that it was a waste of money, kept using it from time to time.

Well, last week was the last straw. I woke up with severe tension in my neck that was obviously due to sleeping wrong. This resulted in breaking down to get measured for an expensive but hopefully effective custom pillow.

The point that I was building up to is this:

The other night I had just finished washing my hair, and wondering how I would dry it. The next thought that occured to me was, “Well, I did it before.” I got through I don’t know how many nights drying my hair and moving my head around as I did so. I reassured myself in that moment that I could do this now, because I had managed before.

In a nutshell I can’t say that life has been perfect the past few years, but I’m more balanced than I was before. I can’t promise that you’ll get equal amounts of “sun” and “rain,” but you will get stronger as they say.

Best of luck,

Vanessa