Beer, Ice cream and good friends

Today was stressful and frustrating for the majority of the day. I got through it by looking forward to dinner with two of my dearest friends. We had pints, ate burgers and had ice cream cones. At the end of the night we sat on my front porch and talked for hours. I had forgotten how lovely and wonderful an evening of great conversation with wonderful people is. We get so wrapped up in life's little errands and events that we forget the simple things.
One must not take these moments lightly, we need to remember to cherish them and hold on to them for they are what make life full and special.
I was reminded tonight how important it is to have great girlfriends who you can talk to about anything and everything. Bouncing your thoughts, opinions, fears and joys off them helps to give you perspective and affirmation that you are where you need to be, you are loved and you belong.
You feel free to express yourself without the fear of judgement, ridicule or humiliation. It's important to have those supportive people in your life so that you can continue to evolve.
These people bring you back to humanity when life's little stresses have pulled you away for too long. They remind you why it's good to be alive, why it's fabulous to be human and how many more years of life you have to live and how you want to spend your time.

I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. Such strong amazing women who strive to be the best they can be in all aspects of their lives.

It has been a good day and I am happy I managed to stop and enjoy it.

Taking A Small Step Forward

It's been nearly a year since my life changed forever. I split up with the man who I thought was the love of my life, the one I'd be with always and that changed everything. I went through every emotion that one human being could have, I think I even experienced some that are new and radical because no one knew what to do with me for a time. I spent the better part of the year perfectly my fetal position pose until I realized it isn't part of the sun salutation. Dang! I am a pro at that pose. I cried more tears than I have in my whole life combined, I probably could have watered crops for a season with all those tears. Now I have found my footing and am attempting to take another step forward. I've been in limbo for a year and now I am ready to break out into the sunlight and grow.

I've learned a lot in the past year. I've learned the difference between being alone and quality time with oneself. At one time I would have scoffed at someone who told me I needed to learn that, and I have scoffed at them for saying that. Now I realize exactly what they were talking about. You can be alone, just to be alone without doing yourself any good. Just existing isn't living, it's merely being alive. Quality time with oneself allows you to see the real person you are, look at your reflection in the mirror and start accepting the flaws that create you're uniqueness that allow you to be different from everyone else. Accept the things you can't change and start changing the things you can.

We all have parts of ourselves we do not like, we've all done things we're not proud of, but at the end of the day you need to see yourself as the real person you are and be happy with that individual. We're not perfect, and in our imperfections we are fabulous, unique and interesting.

While I may not love myself wholly yet, and of course there are things I would indeed like to change and have started working on those things that need to be improved upon, I can say that at the core of it all I am a good person and that is a solid foundation with which to build upon.