THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON

Have you learned it yet? 🤔🤔

Have you learned THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON IN LIFE?

If you haven't learned it during 2020—a year that SHOULD HAVE PUT EVERYTHING IN PERSPECTIVE, and made what's really important in life more clear—you'll probably never learn it.

Life is often shorter than we expect it to be. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. In fact, each moment after our last breath isn't guaranteed. Unexpected, unplanned events lurk around every corner.

As we've learned this year, it's the PEOPLE in our lives who matter most—not fancy belongings, or even our dream job.

Working eighty-plus hour weeks IS NOT what life is about. It's the moments spent laughing about nothing with the person (or people) who accept you unconditionally . . . Watching the sunset (or sunrise) with someone you love . . . Dancing under the stars on a moonlit night with the love of your life . . . Watching the latest flick in your local theater with good friends . . . Sharing stories over pizza and pop . . .

It is these precious moments that are what make life worthwhile . . . That make life meaningful . . .

Does winning an award mean the same if there isn't someone there to share in our accomplishment? Is having our dream job as fulfilling if all of our nights (or days) are spent alone? In case you're not sure, the answer is no to both of those questions.

Time is the one thing we can NEVER get back. EVER. Money comes-and-goes . . . Jobs come-and-go (as many have certainly experienced this year) . . . Of course, most people need some sort of an income, however, that doesn't mean it should be at the expense of living a life that really matters. If you're creative enough, you can figure out how to make money, while still making time for your loved ones and living a life that you'll be proud to look back on when you are taking your last breath . . . ⏳⏳

Once time is gone . . . It's gone. How we spend our time is something we should be MORE INTENTIONAL about.

ALWAYS make time for making memories with loved ones. ALWAYS make time to open your heart and let others in. ALWAYS make time to REALLY LIVE a fulfilling, fun, fabulous life.

On our deathbeds we aren't going to wish that we worked more hours . . . Or ran more errands . . . Or did more chores . . . We really won't.

We'll wish we spent more time with the people we cared about . . .

Asked out that person we were scared to . . .

Opened our heart . . .

Traveled more . . .

Loved more . . .

Lived more . . .

For whatever reason lately, I seem to be watching a lot of doctor-themed shows. A running theme always seems to be about individuals wishing they had "MORE TIME" with their loved ones . . . Wishing there was "MORE TIME" to spend together and make memories . . . Just a little "MORE TIME" . . .

We weren't meant to go through life alone.

Really . . .

What's the point of anything in life if we don't have people we care about to share it with?

So . . . Have you learned it? 🤔🤔

Have you learned what's REALLY important in life?

I hope so . . . Before it's too late.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

"THE BACHELORETTE," "MY TRUTH," AND THE STRUGGLE TO STAY A "HOPEFUL ROMANTIC"

REAL TALK:

After watching the season finale of "The Bachelorette," I'm feeling a smidge "chatty" and feel like sharing a little bit of my truth . . . 💗😊

Over the years I've had to fight the urge to become cynical when it comes to the topic of love, because in "My Story" no guy has ever made me feel like I am worth fighting for. 

And . . . Goodness, part of me hates to admit it, but that's all I've ever wanted since I was like fourteen-years-old . . . I've longed for the desire of my affection to return those feelings and fight to keep me in his life. Even if it's difficult, or complicated . . .

I'm finally beginning to see and understand my own value and worth, however, I have also longed for (and intensely hoped) that someone else would see it as well. If I'm being truly, truly honest . . . I probably wouldn't even know what to do if someone I wanted ACTUALLY wanted me back. I've become so used to guys just walking away, or saying that I am "too much" or "not enough" for them (and that has become "My Story"), that I don't even know what I would do if someone I wanted chose to NOT walk away for once, and DID actually want me back.

I'm the type of girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. Figuratively speaking, but literally as well. I have a small mole on the back of my arm (right around the area where the sleeve of a T-shirt would end) that looks like a heart (it does to me, anyway). 

My heart is BIG. I can't help but love. I don't open my heart to many people in general, but especially not to many guys. So, if I do, it means something. It means a lot, actually . . . 💗💗

Whenever I'm watching a show like "The Bachelorette," or "The Bachelor," or a television show, or film, and there is a "swoon-worthy" moment showing two people finding each other and expressing their love, I just can't help but get caught up in the moment and the emotion and daydream about experiencing that kind of love in my own life—no matter how hard I try to fight it. For that mere moment, all the cynicism washes away and I am once again a "hopeful romantic." I just can't shake it no matter how much I try.

Sometimes I want to be all dark and twisty when it comes to love, but the truth is . . . That cynicism is just covering up the hurt and suffering I've felt from all the rejection. I truly prefer being the "hopeful romantic" full of optimism and believing in ✨ mAgiC ✨ . . . It's just that sometimes, the loneliness weighs heavy on my heart. In the end, that wide-eyed "hopeful" nature tends to win out, however, I must confess that as the days, months, and years tick on, it does become a touch difficult to believe that a "great love" is part of "My Story." 

Not everyone gets the "Fairytale Happily Ever After" ending—no matter how much you long for it. Sometimes you have to create your own "Happily Ever After"—and that doesn't always include someone else to share it with . . . 💗💗

BIRTHDAY BLUES

Every year around this time, I get a bit contemplative . . . 🤔🧠

With another new year around the corner and my 🦄🎂 BiRtHdAy 🎂🦄 in less than a month (January 4th), anxieties begin to surge and an intermittent existential crisis devours me . . .

I struggle with not being where I want to be yet in life—that my ideal "dream" has yet to manifest; I fear being forgettable and stress about who will forget me when my BiRtHdAy rolls around, being disappointed when I don't hear from those I am hoping to hear from; and I struggle with the desire to do something fUn on my BiRtHdAy, but not having anyone to share it with—and now with the pandemic, that seems even less possible than usual . . .

It's a day where I just want to feel like I matter (especially to certain people who matter to me), and always struggle with whether I do or not . . .

SO WISHING I could just turn my brain off and not hold so much weight regarding my BiRtHdAy, but it is STILL the one day of the year that I haven't been able to release from my mental grasp . . . 😕😢