My Life Example of the Notebook

My Grandparents were the epitome of lasting love. They set the example for what I can only hope to have. 

Frank and Lena Ensign

A New Year is only the next chapter

It's funny because so many expect New Years to change their lives or to erase the past. The truth is New Years is just one night, just like any other.

Telling yourself to make a change and move forward is what makes a new year. Growing with the changes and taking on new challenges. The past can't be erased, but it can be made better. There comes a day and time where we all just need to sit down and breathe. Life keeps going with or without you. If you spend it working and ignoring everything and everyone outside of work, the moment you turn around and realize, it might be too late. Everything that was a true life will be gone. This year and every year going forward, don't take for granted the ones who stick around for you. 

The thing about New Years is it brings unrealistic expectations to the surface. Don't set goals for yourself that you know you don't want to achieve but you feel like you have to, to make some sort of 'resolution.' Set goals that you would want to complete, that challenge yourself to be the best possible version of who you are. Don't change yourself into someone you're not.

 A new year doesn't guarantee a blank slate to start over. It does offer 365 new pages to the book that is your life. Every page offers something new, but only you can fill in the blanks. Write your story how you would want it to be read. For the possibilities truly are endless, if you keep your mind open. Don't flip back to the past. No one wants to read a book backwards. Moving beyond the past to get to the future requires acknowledgement of the present. Live the present and slowly you will flip forward to the future and what it holds for you.  Everyone has a story to write and journey that begins somewhere. Don't be afraid to get carried away or to do something out of the ordinary. Those tend to be the best pages of the book.

Life without an instruction manual

Do you ever feel one step behind?

Just standing in an abyss that only appears that way to you. Hoping for answers, clues, or even a strategy. Holding to the ray of hope. Running in a direction just to wonder if you've gone the wrong way. Life happens so fast. You're thrown into it without an instruction manual and without any cliff notes. You wake up some days and feel that your dreams are so vivid; almost more real than reality. Every step you take is a step in the right direction because you end up where you were meant to be. It's funny though because everything feels so life or death when it's happening. It feels as if you'll never end up in the right place at the right time. The truth is, where you're standing right now is the right place. The experiences, the mistakes, and the people along the way are all part of your life instruction manual that you continually write for yourself. You determine your journey and the abyss is only as big as you perceive it to be. Open your mind to the possibilities each day offers and embrace every moment.