F for Friendship

How broad a topic! I'm almost afraid to begin this post simply because there are so many places this train of thought can lead me to.

Friendship is a great thing. Sometimes we meet people that are pleasant to simply wave and smile at while other friendships can be so great that they last a lifetime. They can be spontaneous. They always change. The best part? Each friendship is unique in its entirety.

Each person treats their friends in a different way. Sometimes, it's hard to let down our guards. And other times there's just that instant 'click' where people can understand each other based on values and ways of thinking. The latter occurred with me recently, and I'm looking forward to the new memories that a new girlfriend and I are bound to make. 

My mom always told me to be very grateful that I had respectable friends who genuinely were good people. "Friendship is a gift from God." Cheesy? Yes. Do I believe it? Absolutely.

So, keep your friends close and your enemies closer? I don't think so. Befriend a person in the hall or in an elevator. Be open and willing to share thoughts and ideas. You never know what a small "hello" can become. Besides, what do you have to lose?

#friends #bestfriends #happy #ilovefriends

E for Epilepsy

    Sometimes I look around and wonder about people. Where did that scar come from? As I sat in a plane, I saw a military man fast asleep. How long had it been since he felt safe enough to catch a good amount of sleep?

And then I can't help but wonder what my life would be like if I wasnt... Me. What if I swam instead of danced? What if I had one parent? Would my life be much different if I had been diagnosed with epilepsy?

     I'm absolutely certain that we could learn so much if we had the power, time, and ability to walk in others' shoes, if only for a day. You couldn't honestly tell me segregation would have proceeded to such an extreme had white Americans the opportunity to walk in a worn-down, beaten-up pair of shoes. I say that because I watched a video that suggested the same notion this morning. There was a study in a small white, Catholic town with a population of less than 1000. Third graders were told that blue-eyed people were better than brown-eyed people, and they should treat them as lesser people. The study flipped roles the next day and eventually, students were torn up about the discrimination and even called each other "brown-eyes" or "blue-eyes". In the end, the white children learned not to pass judgements based on the color of someone's skin.

     So if third graders can throw out a life's worth of racism in less than two days, how much else can change with experience? To what extent do we have the ability to understand others? To see from different perspectives?

I wonder, if faced with the opportunity, who would you like to be for a day?

Would you be afraid to change the way you've seen/understood the world?

I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I just might. 

Dyslexic

Walk in someone else's shoes

Which one do you see? Old lady or girl?

D for Defeat

Have you ever wondered why things turn out the way that they do? Why sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things just don't seem to be in your control? Let me be the first to tell you. If you ever feel like the world is unraveling at a pace too fast to sprint with- you're not the only one. 

Recently, I was faced a problem that I didn't know how to repair, or where to even begin. It was beyond frustrating to feel like I didn't have enough knowledge on the topic and with limited resources, where did I end up? To be specific, at a graveyard. Some people say that grandparents have more knowledge than anyone. My grandma has always been a lady to look up to. So yes, I may have seemed like a fool talking to a stone in the middle of the day, but I'm okay with that. 

Just remember that sometimes when life is spinning out of control, you always have the ability to ask for help. And in the times that seem too hard to tough out, ask yourself. Are you going to fight or give in? 

I know I'd fight. 

"Dear Lord, in the battles we go through in life, we ask or a change that's fair. A chance to equal our strife. A chance to do or dare. If I should win, let it be by the code, faith and honor held high. If I should lose, stand by the road...Cheer as the winners go by. Day by day, I get better and better until I can't be beat, won't be beat."