Fight Song Matilda style!

My 13 year old and I went to watch Matilda the musical this evening and it was amazing. I mean, it was amazing. Matilda sings the song ‘Naughty’ in the midst of a really awful scene, her father rejecting her, calling her names. Her mother no better. These are some of the words from that song:

‘Just because you find that life's not fair it
Doesn't mean that you just have to grin and bear it
If you always take it on the chin and wear it
Nothing will change.

Even if you're little, you can do a lot, you
Mustn't let a little thing like, 'little' stop you
If you sit around and let them get on top,
you might as well be saying
You think that it's okay
And that's not right!’

Can I just put it out there for you to hear, I tell you no lie when I say that in the last few years I have yelled many times: ‘That’s not fair!’ Life just isn’t fair sometimes. Your kids get sick, very sick like mine did. Or you lose your job, your marriage struggles, your boss is a bully, you get depression, chronic pain…I could go on but you know what life can throw at you sometimes.

When the tough comes and it does, we have a choice to make. Do I take it on the chin and bear it or do I sit up and say, ‘That’s not right!’ If I just sit and moan that it is unfair my life has been turned upside down by illness, then Matilda says I am just saying that it is ok. IT IS NEVER OK!! Yes I am shouting. I tell you why I am shouting. At some point, after a bit of thumb sucking and allowing other people to pat you on the back and say, ‘There, there..’, you have a choice to make. Stand up and fight for what is rightfully yours to have or sit and let it get on top of you. Health is yours to have, freedom, trust, love, a steady job….

They told me that her case was complex, that her prognosis for recovery was poor because her anorexia had comorbids that made her difficult to treat. So, I dusted myself off, sucked my thumb one last time and went to war. Because ‘That’s not right!’ And even if I am little, I can do a lot, I mustn’t let a little thing like ‘little’ stop me…. We will win this battle and you will win yours if you choose to go to war for what is rightfully yours! This, my friends, is my Fight Song….