Heart Going to Fast to Sleep? Learn Some Japanese Mahjong!

So there I was: my heart was beating hard enough to give the impression it wanted to escape my chest (you can learn more about how I live with some of my heart stuff here: a-personal-guide-to-living-with-a-heart-murmur). I did not want to take my medication for this type of thing so early in the morning. With so many pills I would just end up throwing off the schedule at 3 am. Instead I decided to try and hone some new type of skill. At first I did some sketching but the crazy heart action makes my hands shake like crazy. There are times when the shaking is so bad I cannot hold a glass of water without spilling everywhere. Imagine what a shaky hand does to a sketch. You end up with one of those...'ah...it's beautiful...what is it again?!' 

After realizing the shaking was not going to be leaving any time soon I remembered something wonderful. You see, my cousin just got back from Japan. *For those who know me, you know my life goal is to visit Japan, hence why I'm learning Japanese.* On this trip (it's his second) I asked for a Mahjong game. For those who do not know what Mahjong please google it. I am the worst to explain this highly confusing game. However I am learning and studying the rules at four am has made me slightly more confident about knowing what the heck I'm doing. Unfortunately you cannot play Mahjong without four players so I guess it will be myself playing myself vs myself vs myself. At least I can explore strategies from all directions.


I think my cardiologist would be proud. He always comments on how I'm smiling and tells me to keep up the smile. So I will keep smiling and using the times where I once felt sorry for myself to learn something new. Life is about living and for me, at the moment, learning Mahjong.