I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.
I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it.
I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think.
I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't.
I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice.
I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.
I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.
I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned that just because someone doesn't
love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they
don't love you with all they have.
I've learned that there are many ways of falling
and staying in love.
I've learned that no matter how many friends you have,
if you are their pillar you will feel lonely and lost
at the times you need them most.
I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter
of hours by people who don't even know you.
I've learned that even when you think you have no more
to give, when a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.
I've learned that the people you care most about
in life are taken from you too soon.
I've learned that although the word 'love' can
have many different meanings, it loses value
when overly used.
I've learned that it's hard to determine where to
draw the line between being nice and not hurting
people's feelings and standing up for what
you believe.
"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayels
Or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
Without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own;
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to
the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be
careful,be realistic or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your life from God's presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure ,yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of
grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me,
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where, or what, or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."
--Oriah Mountain Dreamer (an Indian elder)
The Bill of Rights for All Human Beings
I have the right.......
To make other choices besides the choice merely to run away
To say no when I feel unready or unsafe.
Not to be molested by fear.
To feel all feelings.
To believe I'm probably not guilty.
To make mistakes.
Not to smile when I cry or feel hurt.
To terminate conversations with those who put me down or humiliate me.
To be healthier than those around me.
To change and grow.
To be relaxed, playful and frivolous.
To set limits and to be selfish.
To get angry, even at someone I love, without fearing that I, the other person or the relationship will dissolve.
To do stupid things without believing that I am a stupid person.
Not to be ashamed for what I don't know or can't do.
--Author Unknown
Untitled...
Are you like me,
do you dream?
do you close your eyes,
flooded with fantasy?
Are you like me,
do you take what you find?
in a joyful flurry and open minds?
Be like me, and crawl inside,
feel the flesh and blood
running wild.
Let the fires burn,
until their no more,
just glowing embers,
that restlessness bore.
Life isn't about keeping score.
It's not about how many friends you have,
or how accepted you are.
It’s not about if you have plans this weekend,
or if you're alone.
It isn't about who you're dating,
who you used to date,
how many people you've dated,
or if you haven't been with anyone at all.
It isn't about who you have kissed,
it's not about sex.
It isn't about who your family is,
or how much money they have,
or what kind of car you drive,
or where you are sent to school.
It's not about how beautiful or ugly you are,
or what clothes you wear,
what shoes you have on,
or what kind of music you listen to.
It's not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown,
or if your skin is too light or too dark.
It’s not about what grades you get,
how smart you are,
how smart everybody else thinks you are,
or how smart standardized tests say you are.
It's not about what clubs you're in,
or how good you are at "your" sport.
It's not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper
and seeing who will "accept the written you."
LIFE JUST ISN'T
But, life is about who you love and who you hurt.
It's about who you make happy or unhappy purposefully.
It's about keeping or betraying trust.
It's about friendship, used as a sanctity or a weapon.
It's about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening.
It’s about starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip.
It's about what judgments you pass and why,
and who your judgments are spread to.
It's about who you've ignored with full control and intention.
It's about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.
It's about carrying inner hate and love,
letting it grow, and spreading it.
But most of all, it's about using your life
to touch or poison other people's hearts in such a way
that could have never occurred alone.
Only you choose the way those hearts are affected,
and those choices are what life's all about.
"The colors spill together/ But too soon they segregate/ They come out of blissful oblivion/ And realize that they cannot exist in such agony and fear of the world/ So they decide to conform/ And they hesitantly form the rainbow/ Each curve seems to fit perfectly/ But the picture as a whole is blurred and forced/ The vision is beautiful to the ignorant eye/ And it is accepted and praised by all/ Yet the colors feel incredibly out of place."
~Purvi Desai, "The Awkward Rainbow"
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.... Exercise caution ... for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere, life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrender the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful.
Strive to be happy."
--Max Ehrmann
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~Robert Frost
I Remember...
I remember the nights I watched as you lay sleeping
Your body gripped by some far away dream
Well I was so scared and so in love then
And so lost in all of you that I had seen
But no one ever talked in the darkness
No voice ever added fuel to the fire
No light ever alone in the doorway
Deep in the hollow of earthly desires
But if in some dream there was brightness
If in some memory some sort of sigh
And flesh be revived in the shadows
Blessed our bodies would lay so entwined
I remember when you left in the morning at daybreak
So silent you stole from my bed
To go back to the one who possesses your soul
And I back to the life that I dread
So I ran like the wind to the water
Please don't leave me again I cried
And I threw bitter tears at the ocean
But all that came back was the tide
Strange
That being who I am
I should ever feel pretty
But with you
I felt beautiful
Top-of-the-world beautiful
Strange
That I changed
And began to believe
That while with you
I was beautiful
Drop-dead, knock-out beautiful
But now
It's just plain old me again
The clock struck midnight
For a short while
I was in the spotlight
I was Cinderella
With her fellow
Sad
That we're parting so soon
But my heart is still with you
And for a little while
I was beautiful
When boys ment "yuck"
and friends were new
dreams were unshattered
and worries few
When recess was to short
and life too long
decisions came easy
without the need to belong
When storks delivered babies
and passions weren't so strong
friendships were unbroken
right was right
and wrong was wrong
When bad things didn't happen
when only skinned knees brought tears
and the night light in its socket
quited all our fears
When farewell ment just for summer
and real friends didn't part
the fun went on forever
and never left a broken heart
So plant your own garden and
decorate your own soul instead of
waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really are strong
and you really have worth.
And you learn, with every
goodbye, you learn.
Angels are the guardians of hope and
wonder, the keepers of magic and dreams.
Wherever there is love, an angel is flying by.
Your guardian angel knows you inside and out
and loves you just the way you are. Angels
keep it simple and always travel light.
Remember to leave space in your relationships
so the angels have room to play. Your
guardian angel helps you find a place when
you feel there is no place to go. Whenever
you feel lonely, a special angel drops in for
tea. Angels are with you every step of the
way and help you soar with amazing grace.
After all, we are angels in training; all we
have to do is spread our wings and fly.
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain
~Emily Dickenson
The War Behind Us
The fighting
The fear of losing the war
Of losing my first real love
It was paralyzing
My wrists bled
With the knowledge
That there was no one but myself
To blame for this war
Walking on burning coals around her
Sometimes avoiding the fire
Sometimes shooting back
Praying we could end the pain
Then there was a cool breeze
A moment of forgiveness
A sigh of relief
Battles were becoming scarce
It is now fading away
Growing less important to fight
And the peace we have reached
Is worth the war behind us
Fading
She ran out of energy to fight
And so the time came
When the pain of living
Was worse than the pain of letting go
Her only love had left
Not understanding how living was impossible
If she wasn't there
Not ever realizing how devoted the girl was
No one can say for sure when it happened
Some say it was gradual
Some say it just was overnight
These things are hard to pinpoint
She started fading
So fast it was frightening
Yet so gradually you couldn't see it
Until one day she was gone
She had wondered if she'd be missed
And at first it seemed she was
Though not too long after
It seemed she'd never existed at all
And her one great love
The one she wanted to last forever
The one that was supposed to be unbreakable
Never even knew the girl stopped breathing
Loneliness is an endless tunnel
It winds around until you are tangled in it
Negotiating your way out seems impossible
Until someone comes along
Someone unexpected
That makes you feel connected again
That makes you feel you are not the only one
The only one who feels the way you do
The only one who wants the things you need
Slowly she pulls you out of hopelessness
And into a friendship
That saves you from the depths of isolation
From the fear of being unlovable
Fear of being alone
And slowly you are untangled
I got my hand on the bottle
Your smell mingles with mine
Even if only in my head
Sleep doesn't come anymore
Hours after the bar closes I am here
Only my drink to keep me company
You're in your bed across town
Peacefully in a deep sleep
Possibly with someone holding you
And I'm sitting in a chair
Cold, alone, and very awake
Sipping my way into oblivion
My world of no feeling
No existence worth mentioning
But that's how I am now
This is how I am still alive
I have you to thank for knowing true love
And a bottle to thank for surviving it
