Friendship Fridays: Then and Now

When the past intertwines with the present (which apparently it does) it's life's way of giving you another chance to do things and treat people differently. This applies in particular to old friendships. To those people you sort of knew but really didn't. If given an opportunity to get to know them better you might be surprised to find you have so much more in common than you could've ever imagined.

When the future intertwines with your present also, you can't predict how strong your friendship with certain people is going to turn out to be. 22 years ago I would have never guessed that I'd still be best friends with the same group of girls from elementary school.

In over two decades we have shared so much. Laughter, tears, sorrows, victories, loses, weddings, divorces, heartbreaks, new loves, children (human and canine), too much time together, too much time apart. But no matter where we've been or where we were going we knew every time we were together that it would be as if time had never passed.

Friendships give our lives color. They become an integral part of your existence. And if you are as fortunate as I've been, they become your family.

So on Friendship Fridays I would like to encourage you to reach out to those friends you haven't kept in touch with. Your message, whichever way you choose to deliver it, might be exactly what they needed to hear that day.

Or maybe what you need is a new friend who can potentially be part of the rest of your life. Therefore on Friendship Fridays try to be a bit more open-minded to establishing new relationships.

In recent years, I've added more friends to the little treasure box in my heart. If you are in any of these pictures it means I'm glad to call you my friend. (If I forgot to add you please slap me silly and send me a pic so I can add you.)

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

The Sculptor

A couple of years ago I wrote a personal ad to the Universe in hopes to find a sculptor that could help me break the stone that my heart had been transformed into. It read like this:

"Now hiring! My porcelain heart has been turned to stone, and now only a a sculptor can penetrate it. Because only a sculptor would be aware of its sedimentary state and as they delicately chisel away, maintain it intact as they infiltrate the layers, and slowly bring out all its radiance and beauty. Serious candidates only."

After several applicants, there was one with an excellent resume, almost too good to be true. And it was. After he broke through the layers and reached the porcelain, he became careless and let it go causing it to shatter in millions of pieces.

After months of putting back together all the pieces, I had given up on finding a sculptor that could handle my fragile yet radiant nature and decided it was better to cover it in stone again in order to protect it.

However, apparently the ad I had put out back then, was still circulating among the Universe and out of nowhere I was contacted by a new sculptor.

He claims that my heart is exactly the one he had always dreamed of but had never found before. That he understands it's been shattered but he is volunteering to wait the time necessary for the glue to adhere securely. He is willing to work on it day and night, little by little until I'm ready to let it shine again without the stone.

As an incentive to let him be the only one working on it, he offered to be beside me on my journey. He is encouraging me to continue traveling and having fun with
my friends and do all the things I wanted to do alone in all the other areas of my life.

In the meantime while I finish those adventures, he's also offering to store my heart in a secure locker while I enjoy the heck out of this roller- coaster ride I'm currently on.

Mr. Sculptor could you really be the one? The one to make me whole again? I hope so... And by the way you are hired!

The fortune cookie

Today my friends were unable to join me at the gym, so I decided to go to the closest one to me which we normally don't attend because it's like one big high school reunion and frankly the last thing we want to see when we're sweating like hogs is fake people. But since it was kind of late and I was also tired, I really didn't care if I ran into anyone.

Thankfully I didn't see any familiar faces, but as I was prepping my elliptical machine, I noticed a little piece of paper right smack in front of me.

It was a fortune cookie paper.

Unfortunately there was no cookie, but as I read it I couldn't help but look up and chuckle... Oh Universe I see you too...

It read, "Never fear! The end of something marks the start of something new."

As if that wasn't enough confirmation that things are and will fall into place as they should, when I flipped the back, it said, "learn Chinese" and the word was "to wait" - pronounced "deng". Really?!

Deng is right. Waiting sucks. But being reassured in little ways like this helps me to not stop believing in the choices I'm making and hold on to that feeling that soon enough I will have the desires of my heart.. But first I must learn to "deng" patiently. :)

Thankful Thursdays: Taking Chances

This weekend I went to Rapids water park where I came face to face with their ride called the Black Thunder.

I must admit I am a little bit afraid of heights so as I climbed the set of stairs whose final destination seemed to be the clouds, I couldn't help but get a little weak in the knees.

When I finally reached the top I was no longer consumed by the fear of the height, but rather was now feeling weak in the pit of the stomach as I glanced at the pitch black toboggan and its deep drop that I was about to face.

I knew there was no way I would go back the way that I came because it meant going down the stairs and staring at the abyss below, so down the pitch black tube it was.

The anticipation had me shaking in my flip flops and I was truly scared as my heart continued to race 1000 beats per minute. I kept thinking, "What the heck did I get myself into?"

As the sun-kissed life guard pushed us closer to the edge, I grabbed on to the small security harnesses on the sides of the raft, for dear life and then after one final push there we went.

We were twisting, turning, screaming, but halfway down I began to have fun, and enjoy the ride. I had no idea where we were going or what was going to happen next but I was having a blast!

As we approached the end, I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, but by then it didn't matter. I was thrilled that I took the chance to try something new and face my fears.

It was then that it dawned on me, sometimes we let fear hold us back from making changes or taking chances, but when you get the courage to follow your heart, it turns out there was nothing to fear after all.

"Most of our days are spent in fear of heartaches, but when faced with the inevitable we suddenly realize that we are much stronger than we thought we’d be. So don’t fear but rather live freely and enjoy the essence of life’s beauty in all that you do.... Live, Laugh, Cry, Dream, and Love without condition."--- me

Thankful Thursdays: God, the Universe & Google Earth

Think of how small we are compared to the universe, then you will realize the true size of your problems...

I never get tired of saying that. It's simply the truth. If you don't believe me try looking up your location on google earth and you'll see all the layers the satellite has to infiltrate before it can get to you.

The good news is God is like google earth and can zoom into your location anywhere in the world if you want him to.

So wake up, take a deep breath, and inhale life! It is good and something will give! Just be patient!

Love Lesson #1: Have you...

When you meet real love, or what you define at this point in time as real love because it's the greatest love you've known thus far, it should be the minimum you're willing to settle for in the future...

If you have never been treated like royalty, had the door opened for you, laid next to each other hearing your hearts beat to the same rhythm, speak to each other without words, only with your eyes, then perhaps you have not experienced real love yet...

If you knew exactly when they were thinking of you, because you felt it and vice versa, if they made you want to be the best you've ever been, or reminded you of who you once were and brought out all those feeling every time you were together, then perhaps you have loved...

If you haven't cried yourself to sleep after finally being able to breathe again, in the times when your love was being tried, or counted the petals of a flower hoping this one was created in your favor to confirm what you already knew, then perhaps you haven't loved...

If distance, time nor circumstances allows you to forget them. If every star in the sky is a reflection of their name. If you find yourself wishing upon a full moon, that wherever they may be, that same moon reminds them of you, even if just for a moment, then perhaps you have loved...

If you didn't give it your all, or take risks driven by uncertainty, not knowing what would happen, only that it felt right to the two of you. If you gave up on the best thing you've ever known as a result of fear or because being with someone else would make it easier, then maybe you never loved at all...

Perhaps I don't know what love is either, or perhaps I loved too much. Who am I to say you haven't loved. But one thing is for certain, whatever this was, I would do it all over again, because the pleasure love brings when you think you're in it, IS worth the pain...

Thankful Thursdays : Love

They say if you love something let it go, and if it comes back to you it was meant to be. Well that is so much easier said than done, because when you truly love something the last thing you want to do is let it go.

When you have found such love, you will encounter obstacles that will make you think it's too good to be true, when in fact it can be that real. But it's normal to be scared when you find yourself contemplating changing life as you know it to be with that person.

That is when time comes in. Time, can be both a friend or foe. You really cannot predict the future and what the outcome of this "time" will be. But you CAN hope, hope that the other person realizes that they are as madly in love with you as you are with them and is ready to face anything and everything with you.

If that's not the case you can at least hope that you come to grips with the idea that you loved and lost but at least were fortunate enough to experience true love which is rare in today's times.

Love is the one thing we all long for, but once it finds its way to us, most of us don't know what to do with it. As I enter my journey into "time" I can't help but be thankful for love. For taking a risk with it and getting an amazing reward.

However we've reached the crossroads where said "time" is needed and I am removing the glass bubble I had my butterfly under, because it's time for it to take its real journey. Spread your wings butterfly and I hope one day, you and I can return to our bubble.

People will always have an opinion on how you should live your life, but remember, this is your journey. Don't base your decisions on the actions of others. Live, hope, dream, and most importantly love....