Pushing the limits

When you're required to fight for a belief and/or principle and the outcome isn't what you imagined, do you continue to fight for a different ending? By pushing the limits of what's expected of you, often you're faced with the daunting task of going on the attack versus defending your position. Not always do you have the luxury of be barricaded behind a wall of solitude but you must now venture into the realm of the 'winner' to regain your footing.

Life can be a killer.

            I found a quote that struck my heart in a way I felt the need to write, “The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was and the present worse than it is”. Strangely I have no idea who wrote it and not that it is SO prolific or wise in any way (this has been said many times), I just felt I finally understand what it means. I live my life looking behind me or looking ahead of me, never looking around me. I never concentrate on the here and now. I need to concentrate on changing what I can change, moving past the things I cannot, releasing the past, and letting the future come as it may. My past was wonderful and horrible, but nothing I do will change it. I must learn from it and chock it up to experience. The future is uncertain at best and can change in a moment’s breath. I can control my present and plan for the future. Putting things into perspective and adjusting my sails as the wind changes is my best hope of navigating through the unknown. Surrounding myself with people and things I enjoy and pursuing my dreams will push me through the muck and mire I have long been wading through.

“Life will give you nothing and take everything” is a quote I heard many years ago that at this moment has become clear. Nothing is free; you have to work for it. Success, wealth, love, life, etc. no one will hold your hand. Some people will help you up when you fall, others will push you down, and still others will walk right past you. Those that help you up are the ones you want in your life. Forget the rest of them, they mean nothing to you. When people realize you are strong and could not care less about them if they are not there to share a mutual friendship with you then they will eventually fade in the distance to annoy someone else. Being happy is not about having everything, some of the richest people are miserable. I dream of being rich, but then who do you trust? If you have friends when you are poor you know they are your friends because they like you for YOU, your friendship is all you have to give. Rich people have to worry about those with selfish and evil intentions. Hard work will win out over luck every time.

Love is a part of life, just like pain, laughter, and dreams. No one can predict love, it just happens. It can be a look, a laugh, a touch but when it happens there is no greater thing. It will outshine the Sun, it will be deeper than the ocean, and it will take you higher than a rocket ship. The opposite is true when that love is gone, you will feel the most crippling pain, be trapped in the deepest darkest hole, and suffer the worst loss you can imagine. If you do not feel this tremendous high and excruciating low then you are not truly in love. Love is the greatest, and worst, emotion in the world. It can put you on top of the highest mountain, and it can crush you under the deepest ocean. It is strange how such a strong emotion can be so fleeting, here one moment and gone the next. Inevitably love leaves a path of destruction in its wake, the carnage of lives ruined and the ashes of hearts consumed lay littered along the path of our lives like autumn leaves on the ground after a strong wind. Only a lucky few can say they found their true love. Only those who have lost that love can understand the debilitating anguish left behind.

Change is hard, no one likes it. Change is stressful. Even good change is hard on the psyche. Everyone has advice, some good, some bad, you must decide if it is right for you. Eventually you have to make a decision, let it destroy you or learn from it and move on. Live by your own rules, love truly, regret nothing, be a friend, and share your smile. GOD bless and keep you! - Chris