Monday, September 9, 2013

the more people let me into their lives, the more i'm aware of the paralysis that often comes with a broken heart.

life is full of disappointment. that person who promised to never leave you, leaves you. the one you thought was 'the one' had a few other 'ones' on the side. you didn't get that job you were banking on. the word you feared when you got your test results back came out of your doctor's mouth. and the list goes on.

i'm not trying to be depressing here, just realistic. life can be painful and unfair sometimes. just watch the news, or, if you want to be more current, more '2013', scroll through your facebook newsfeed. people are crying out for help.

so what do we do? what can we do?

i don't know about you, but my words come up short in times like these. i sit and listen to what my friends are saying [and not saying], and my immediate reaction is to try and say something so wise that their problems wash away.

i've learned something valuable along the way, though. being there for someone - like actually being physically present - can speak more comfort to a broken heart than any word we try and come up with in the process.

sometimes it's best just to ... show up.

Monday, September 2, 2013

1) tomorrow is not guaranteed.

one of the 'clients' at a women's recovery home i used to work in passed away this week. i can't help but think about her and how much of a fighter she was. naturally, i can't help but think about death either, and how important life is. we never really know how much time we have to impact another life. make today count.

2) progress.

a situation happened in my life recently that was extremely similar to one that happened months back, only this time i responded differently. last time, i responded emotionally. this time, rationally. i took a deep breath, processed it, and acted accordingly. i'm constantly striving to be better, and do better, so it's encouraging to see some growth.

3) the critics.

“it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” [theodore roosevelt]

there will always be critics. but they don't count ... unless we let them.