The Search for ME
What I see in me

I might not be someone’s first choice,

…but I am a great choice.

I may not be rich….but I am valuable.

I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not,

…because I’m good at being me.

I might not be proud of some of the things

I’ve done in the past,

…but I am proud of who I am today.

I may not be perfect…

…but I don’t need to be.

Take me as I am, or watch me as I walk away!

choices

These past few weeks, I’ve been put in a situation that has me so conflicted. What should be an easy answer, one that should not ever have been given a second thought has turned out to be “complicated”. It has brought me to question my morals, character, beliefs. But how do you decide what is a right answer? Do you lose your dignity if no one but you knows about it? Is your self respect worth losing? But what if your family would benefit from it?  What if it could make things better for them? Would my “sacrifice” be worth it if it was done for them? What is the right answer? If you can live with your choice, is it worth doing? Even if you know it’s wrong? Why is the path of life so difficult? 

Relationships

This was posted on FB and I wanted to share it here as well…..

In a relationship, married or not… You should read this. Marriage. “When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now. The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again. In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage. This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request. I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully. My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her. On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore. She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband…. The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

Clearance Rack

´*.¸.•´♥~If you’re not being treated with love and respect, check your price tag. Perhaps you have marked yourself down. It’s YOU who tells people what you’re worth by what you accept. Get off the clearance rack and get behind the glass where they keep the valuables! LEARN to value yourself more! If you do not, no one else will! Re-post if you like, you may help someone get off the CLEARANCE RACK ♥ ~unknown

So true it hurts

From ~ Bill Gates ~ This should be posted in every school or kid’s bedroom. Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about eleven (11) things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this conceptset them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
… … Rule 2 : The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were: So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room..
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMESas you want to get the right answer. *This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. *Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one..
If you can read this… Thank a Teacher. If you can read this in English… Thank a Soldier! And for life and everything else you have… Thank God!! Now…. think about this and smile if you agree and please pass this on… If you don’t agree, go stick your head in the sand and take a deep breath! In God We Trust!….

THE SOUTHERN TEN COMMANDMENTS

This is much easier to remember !!!
(1) Just one God. (2) Put nothin’ before God. (3) Watch yer mouth…. (4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin’. (5) Honor yer Ma & Pa. (6) No killin’. (7) No foolin’ around with another feller’s gal (or ‘nother gal’s feller). (8) Don’t take what ain’t yorn. (9) No tellin’ tales or gossipin’. (10 )Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff. Now that’s plain an’ simple. And bless your little cotton pickin’ heart.

This was way too cute not to repost it here

God and Country

A little girl wanted to know what the United States looked like. Her dad tore a map of the USA out of a magazine and cut it into small pieces, then told her to go to her room and see if she could put it together. After a few minutes she returned with the map correctly fitted and taped together. The dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. She replied on the other side was a picture of Jesus and when I put him back then our country just came together

Too many “ifs”

If only my life could be just half of what I dream of. If I could just become the person that is so hidden inside. If I could just find the courage to take a chance on a wild shot. If I could just go back and do things differently. If I hadn’t said “yes” all those years ago. If I were more focused. If I could stay focused on the “goal”. If……….

I am not wallowing in self pity. Quiet the contrary. I am a work in progress. I am learning from my mistakes. I am finding strength in places not known to me before. I am venturing out of my comfort zone. I am finding my way. Strength comes from within and I have found, I am strong. Courage comes from doing and saying no to fear and doubt. I have learned to say no. I have learned to believe in myself when no one else does. I have learned I can stand on my own. 

Dare to Dream

Let nothing hold you back from
exploring your wildest fantasies,
wishes, and aspirations.
Don’t be afraid to dream big
and to follow your dreams
wherever they may lead you.
Open your eyes to their beauty;
open your mind to their magic;
open your heart to their possibilities.
Dare to dream.
Whether they are in color
or in black and white,
whether they are big or small,
easily attainable or almost impossible,
look to your dreams,
and make them become reality.
Wishes and hopes are nothing
until you take the first step
towards making them something!

Dare to dream,

Because only by dreaming,
will you ever discover
who you are, what you want,
and what you can do.
Don’t be afraid to take risks,
to become involved,
to make commitment.
Do whatever it takes to make
your dreams come true.
Always believe in miracles,
and always believe in you!

Then and now

Over 5000 years ago, Moses said to the people of Israel, “Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels. I will lead you to the Promised Land”.  When Welfare was introduced, Roosevelt said “Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses and light up a Camel. This is the Promised Land”. Today, the government has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land to China!