That's what it's all about -- getting another chance. Thank God.
As of right now, there is about 5 hours left to 2011. It has been a great year, and I mean that. This is my moment, our moment, to reflect on the last year and the year to arrive in 5 hours.
For some people, this day can be a burden mainly because they choose to look back at all their failures. I believe it's important to look back at those failures; but look at them through a different lens, one that doesn't show every nook and crack in the last year of your life. That's not what this day is about. Today is the day --to remember both our triumphs and missteps, our promises made and broken. The times we opened ourselves up to great adventures or closed ourselves down for fear of getting hurt. Because that's what the new year is all about -- getting another chance. A chance to forgive, to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more. And stop worrying about 'what if' and start embracing 'what would be'.
We spend so much time caring about what other people think, the things we don't have, our looks, our disadvantages, our misfortunes...but we never realize how lucky we are, how blessed we are. The other night while I was driving around town, I kept turning my mind to the fact that I had spent way too much money on Christmas this year. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to share with my friends and family; but deep down I had this aching pain that made me upset at myself for spending so much or at least more than I should have. I've been throwing a lot of my paycheck directly into my savings so that I don't carelessly spend it, but the week before Christmas, I found myself moving more and more money out of my savings and into my checking account. As I was passing the Hope Rescue Mission downtown and saw all the homeless people sitting around waiting for the building to open up for their little meal, that's when it hit me; I don't know how many millions of people in the world would die to have the worst of my problems. I'm there worrying that I spent too much money and these people are worrying about surviving. It really put my life in perspective.
As much as this year is about second chances, it's also about taking chances. It's about getting out of our comfort zone. For so long, I looked at being successful as something that requires you to do anything, even if it means something you don't enjoy. Recently, my view on success has morphed into a true value. Everyone deserves to do what they love, and love what they do. I understand that a lot of people are forced to work a meaningless job in order to put food on the table for their family, but I pray that they get out of that rut and are able to love their jobs. I guess that's an example of where I'm blessed. For over three and a half years, I have been given the opportunity to love my job, and I have. I get to go to work everyday and enjoy the company of my coworkers and customers -I mean, who gets to do that?- but I've also learned not to take that for granted. That all said, I realized that I cannot settle. I know God has bigger and better things for me in the future. About two months ago, I realized that I don't want to be with Starbucks forever. In no way does this mean I'll be leaving soon, because I have a lot of other stuff to sort out. But I've fallen back in love with cooking. Originally, I was planning on going to culinary school, but being an immature 18 year old, I let some people scare me out of doing that. I let them make me afraid of the future before it had even arrived. And I had soon given up my hope and love for what I wanted to be. I'm still not completely sure what I'll be doing; but I trust God will connect the dots for me when the time comes.
"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
-Steve Jobs-
With this new year, I pray that I can forgive more, love more, share more, travel more, laugh more, become healthier, care less about the worthless, care more about the worthy, cook more, read more, try harder, be there more, pray more, worry less, trust more, and enjoy life more.
Over the last year, and not to sound too cliché, I've learned that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you have to lose everything in order to gain it all. Relationships might be broken or damaged, but they might be healed and then made stronger. You might not understand why things have to happen, you just have to believe that God has a reason for it all. As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
The time has come for me to end this year with a celebration with great friends; a celebration of our triumphs and struggles, and a celebration for the year to come. I hope you all have a fantastic time doing whatever you're doing, whether you're on your couch alone or with a million people in Times Square. Just remember to love yourself for who you are, but never settle for a mediocre life. God never created anything less than extraordinary. I'll leave you with this quote by Marianne Williamson...
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Love Someone Like You're Five
Love someone like you're five. In art class, let her use your paint brush; smile as you watch her smoosh the colors on the paper. When it's snack time, ask her what animal fruit snack is her favorite; share with her and feel good about it, but make sure she doesn't eat all of yours because you like them as much as her. When it's nap time, save her a spot on the floor and help her lay out her mat; giggle together until the teacher shushes you to be quiet.
Love someone like you're eleven. Dance with her as she sings to Britney Spears; laugh and act like you know the words together; be oblivious to the real lyrics; blush when she grabs your hand and sings to you. Tell her that her yearbook picture is prettier than the most popular girls'; blush when she says the same to you. When you get in a single file line, look ahead of you to make sure she is there; feel your heart skip a beat when she looks back at you. Laugh and scream obnoxiously loud when running towards the swings; let her have first pick. When you are swinging, try to get in sync with her swing so that you will "be married", and hide your beat-red face when she acknowledges you as her "husband". Imagine your future. Get distracted.
Love someone like you're fourteen. Walk over to her house and watch a movie with she and her other neighbor; lie to her mom about your curfew; don't worry about getting in trouble by your parents because she is all you care about at the moment. When she asks to walk you home, feel safe. Feel loved. Remember when she giggly asked if she could kiss you earlier that day; hope to God that she didn't forget. Stand under the street lights, in the summer night; get butterflies when you feel her grab your hand; try not to blush. Blush. Feel your heart beat faster. As she jokingly yells at her friend to look away, wait for the kiss; as she turns around towards you and smiles, wait for her to lean in; close your eyes. Even though the kiss was short, you lose your breath. She takes your breath away. You think you love her, but feel silly because you know you are so young. You still think you love her.
Love someone like you're eighteen. High school created a barrier. You lost touch. As you walk into school, you see her and you remember when she kissed you and can feel the summer warmth on our skin; you remember the feeling, you daydream about the past. As the year goes by, you continue to think about her, but worry she doesn't remember you. You get jealous when you hear about her other guy friends. You think the worst and believe you two will never be together again. You try to move on. You don't know that she feels the same about you; she sees you and believes that you forgot about the past. She moves on while still wishing you would there to be with her. It's March. You both had to stay after school for various reasons. As you leave and head outside to the empty parking lot, you notice her car. You see her struggling to open the car door because of the ice. You think twice, but decide to go help her. As your almost there, she's just giving up. She sees you and acts like nothing is wrong. With a little tug, you pop the door open. You feel good. You feel strong. You feel needed. She thanks you and then asks how you've been doing. It feels a little awkward, but feels right. Just as you both are reminiscing about the past, her boyfriend pulls up in his car. She feels embarrassed. The moments over.
Love someone like you're twenty-three. It's been years. You've seen her a handful of times while home during summer breaks from college; every time you wanna rip your heart out because even though it's been years, you still think about her. Now college is over; you've both returned home. You see her for the first time. Your heart skips a beat. You go to the bar to meet a group of old high school friends; they weren't sure if you knew her and they introduce you to her. Your faces meet. Your heart skips a beat. She's just as beautiful as you remember. After everyone settles down and continues talking to one another, you walk towards each other. The background noise dies out as you look a her and say a simple 'Hi.' Everything feels right. The two of you stray away from the others and you buy her a drink. You talk about the days of when you were kids. You bring up the night she kissed you. Her face turns red because she is shocked that you remembered. She admits that she never stopped having feelings for you; you admit the same. The two of you are speechless and just stare at each other. The day after you exchange numbers, you call her and ask her out; she agrees.
Love someone like you're twenty-four. After dating for awhile, you want to say those three words. You remember the days of giving her your paint brush and your fruit snacks and cracking jokes and singing with her; you remember how good it made you feel to see her happy. You know she is happy and you realize you want to spend the rest of your life doing anything you can to make her happy. It's Christmas; you enjoy dinner with her and your family. After hours of talking and laughing, it's dark outside; she asks you to take her to her parents house down the street. As you head down the sidewalk into the empty street, you come to that street light. The street light gives you flashbacks of that night. As you think about that night, she brings it back up and you both laugh. Once you get to standing underneath the light, everything goes quiet; you get warm. It hits you like a train and you can no longer contain yourself. You immediately interrupt her talking and quietly say "I love you"....She doesn't say anything. All you can do is wait. After a few seconds of letting your words sink in, she looks at you with those beautiful eyes and softly says "I love you too". Before you can fully take in her response, she leans in towards you and kisses you like it was the last kiss you would share together. Again, she takes your breath away.
Love someone like you're thirty.The two of you have been married a few years now, and she still makes you blush. You have your first child together and it only makes you love her more. You help out with the baby as much as you can, not because you have to, but because you want to. You've come to respect her for everything she is and all that she does for you. You can't help but wake up everyday with a smile on your face. You still take her out on dates like when you first started seeing each other, and every night you kiss her like it's your last kiss.
Love someone like you're fifty. By this time, you have inherited your parents house; it's now your home. The kids are in college now and you are finally alone with her again. The house is rarely quiet because you keep each other laughing like when you first met. You like the same things, for the most part, because it makes her happy. You travel the world with her and feel comfortable where ever you are, because she is your home. She makes you feel like your the most important thing that's ever happened to her, and it's true. Every night you fall asleep together; she has your heart, you have hers.
Love someone like you're ninety. The kids are grown up and have children of their own. They have been raised on the love of their grandparents. That's true love. To this day, the kids know that street light. They now own the house in front of it. It continues to brighten up the night. You have spent every night in each others company, mesmerized by your shared love. Another year or two goes by; she passes away. Your heart is broken in a million pieces. After the funeral, you are given a note that she wrote before she passed. In the note, she explains that there is a box that she kept hidden that she now wants you to have. You arrive home and find the box. As you sit down and open it, you immediately burst into tears. You feel sad and joyful at the same time. After a minute or so, you pull out two objects; a paint brush and a pack of fruit snacks.
Love someone like you're five.
Love someone like you're eleven. Dance with her as she sings to Britney Spears; laugh and act like you know the words together; be oblivious to the real lyrics; blush when she grabs your hand and sings to you. Tell her that her yearbook picture is prettier than the most popular girls'; blush when she says the same to you. When you get in a single file line, look ahead of you to make sure she is there; feel your heart skip a beat when she looks back at you. Laugh and scream obnoxiously loud when running towards the swings; let her have first pick. When you are swinging, try to get in sync with her swing so that you will "be married", and hide your beat-red face when she acknowledges you as her "husband". Imagine your future. Get distracted.
Love someone like you're fourteen. Walk over to her house and watch a movie with she and her other neighbor; lie to her mom about your curfew; don't worry about getting in trouble by your parents because she is all you care about at the moment. When she asks to walk you home, feel safe. Feel loved. Remember when she giggly asked if she could kiss you earlier that day; hope to God that she didn't forget. Stand under the street lights, in the summer night; get butterflies when you feel her grab your hand; try not to blush. Blush. Feel your heart beat faster. As she jokingly yells at her friend to look away, wait for the kiss; as she turns around towards you and smiles, wait for her to lean in; close your eyes. Even though the kiss was short, you lose your breath. She takes your breath away. You think you love her, but feel silly because you know you are so young. You still think you love her.
Love someone like you're eighteen. High school created a barrier. You lost touch. As you walk into school, you see her and you remember when she kissed you and can feel the summer warmth on our skin; you remember the feeling, you daydream about the past. As the year goes by, you continue to think about her, but worry she doesn't remember you. You get jealous when you hear about her other guy friends. You think the worst and believe you two will never be together again. You try to move on. You don't know that she feels the same about you; she sees you and believes that you forgot about the past. She moves on while still wishing you would there to be with her. It's March. You both had to stay after school for various reasons. As you leave and head outside to the empty parking lot, you notice her car. You see her struggling to open the car door because of the ice. You think twice, but decide to go help her. As your almost there, she's just giving up. She sees you and acts like nothing is wrong. With a little tug, you pop the door open. You feel good. You feel strong. You feel needed. She thanks you and then asks how you've been doing. It feels a little awkward, but feels right. Just as you both are reminiscing about the past, her boyfriend pulls up in his car. She feels embarrassed. The moments over.
Love someone like you're twenty-three. It's been years. You've seen her a handful of times while home during summer breaks from college; every time you wanna rip your heart out because even though it's been years, you still think about her. Now college is over; you've both returned home. You see her for the first time. Your heart skips a beat. You go to the bar to meet a group of old high school friends; they weren't sure if you knew her and they introduce you to her. Your faces meet. Your heart skips a beat. She's just as beautiful as you remember. After everyone settles down and continues talking to one another, you walk towards each other. The background noise dies out as you look a her and say a simple 'Hi.' Everything feels right. The two of you stray away from the others and you buy her a drink. You talk about the days of when you were kids. You bring up the night she kissed you. Her face turns red because she is shocked that you remembered. She admits that she never stopped having feelings for you; you admit the same. The two of you are speechless and just stare at each other. The day after you exchange numbers, you call her and ask her out; she agrees.
Love someone like you're twenty-four. After dating for awhile, you want to say those three words. You remember the days of giving her your paint brush and your fruit snacks and cracking jokes and singing with her; you remember how good it made you feel to see her happy. You know she is happy and you realize you want to spend the rest of your life doing anything you can to make her happy. It's Christmas; you enjoy dinner with her and your family. After hours of talking and laughing, it's dark outside; she asks you to take her to her parents house down the street. As you head down the sidewalk into the empty street, you come to that street light. The street light gives you flashbacks of that night. As you think about that night, she brings it back up and you both laugh. Once you get to standing underneath the light, everything goes quiet; you get warm. It hits you like a train and you can no longer contain yourself. You immediately interrupt her talking and quietly say "I love you"....She doesn't say anything. All you can do is wait. After a few seconds of letting your words sink in, she looks at you with those beautiful eyes and softly says "I love you too". Before you can fully take in her response, she leans in towards you and kisses you like it was the last kiss you would share together. Again, she takes your breath away.
Love someone like you're thirty.The two of you have been married a few years now, and she still makes you blush. You have your first child together and it only makes you love her more. You help out with the baby as much as you can, not because you have to, but because you want to. You've come to respect her for everything she is and all that she does for you. You can't help but wake up everyday with a smile on your face. You still take her out on dates like when you first started seeing each other, and every night you kiss her like it's your last kiss.
Love someone like you're fifty. By this time, you have inherited your parents house; it's now your home. The kids are in college now and you are finally alone with her again. The house is rarely quiet because you keep each other laughing like when you first met. You like the same things, for the most part, because it makes her happy. You travel the world with her and feel comfortable where ever you are, because she is your home. She makes you feel like your the most important thing that's ever happened to her, and it's true. Every night you fall asleep together; she has your heart, you have hers.
Love someone like you're ninety. The kids are grown up and have children of their own. They have been raised on the love of their grandparents. That's true love. To this day, the kids know that street light. They now own the house in front of it. It continues to brighten up the night. You have spent every night in each others company, mesmerized by your shared love. Another year or two goes by; she passes away. Your heart is broken in a million pieces. After the funeral, you are given a note that she wrote before she passed. In the note, she explains that there is a box that she kept hidden that she now wants you to have. You arrive home and find the box. As you sit down and open it, you immediately burst into tears. You feel sad and joyful at the same time. After a minute or so, you pull out two objects; a paint brush and a pack of fruit snacks.
Love someone like you're five.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)