The Quote

Many years ago, my sister sent this quote to me in a card and it has really stuck with me ever since. I now have the card framed and it sits in my living room today. Last night I walked by it and stood for a moment to read it again. It still has the same profound effect over me today that it did so many years ago when I first read it. I think that I try with all my heart to live just as the quote says. I really do live as if this is all there is. Do you?

Quotes

Even when I'm feeling my saddest or in one of my most unhappiest of moods, quotes (and my nephew) have the power to cheer me up instantly and inspire me hours later after reading them.

The following is a list of quotes I've been keeping for awhile so I thought it was time to release them now. I'm not sure where I found them and I really wish I knew who said them all....

"She believed she could so she did."

"That little voice in your head that says, GO BUY SHOES, that's the one to listen to."

"Follow your heart. It knows the way."

"Hope for the best. Plan for the worst. Snack in between."

"It’s often the bend in the road that makes life worth the drive."

"See the good all around you, even if you have to squint."

"Let it be."

"I take it one day at a time, but sometimes several of them attack me at once."

"Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken."

"The stuff that wears on the nerves polishes the soul."

"The tide always turns."

"That which does not kill me makes me want to eat a cookie."

"Dream no small dream."

“ 'Seize the day!' does not necessarily have to include the morning part of the day."

"Laugh louder."

"The best way out is always through."

"Never stop being curious."

"When the chips are down, bring on the cheese dip!"

"Faith is hope on fire."

"She listened to her heart and that made all the difference."

"Dreams have no expiration date."

"Through love, through friendship, a heart lives more than one life."

"Some days are hopscotch kind of days, some days are getting-nailed-at-dodgeball kind of days."

and lastly,

"Hang in there. Even the worst weeks have Fridays in them."

I Am. . .

I spent the better part of yesterday singing the alphabet and asking my almost 2 year old nephew, Lucas, to name letters so in honor of him, below is a neat poster that I found awhile ago in a magazine. I hope it reminds each and every one of you what you really are. : )

I Am. . .

Ageless, Adventurous, Active, Beautiful, Balanced, Blessed, Charismatic, Creative, Capable, Dynamic, Determined, Divine, Enthusiastic, Eloquent, Extraordinary, Feisty, Faithful, Free, Graceful, Genuine, Gutsy, Hardworking, Honest, Happy, Imaginative, Insightful, Individual, Influential, Joyful, Jovial, Kind, Kindred Spirit, Knowledgeable, Logical, Loving, Luminescent, Luscious, Magical, Motivated, Magnificent, Natural, Never Late, Noticeable, Optimistic, Observant, Original, Perceptive, Poised, Persistent, Quick-on-My-Feet, Quirky, Resilient, Reliable, Radiant, Sensational, Self-Assured, Spiritual, Trustworthy, Thoughtful, Unique, Unabashed, Understanding, Vibrant, Valuable, Versatile, Witty, Whimsical, Wise, eXuberant, fleXible, eXcited, Youthful, Zany, Zealous and Zingy.

Sunday QuoteDay

I found this quote recently on a blog and I instantly fell in love with it:

"Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. It's hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well, and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art. Speaking with your heart to the hearts of others." -Unknown

The Horizon

Another gift my roommate and I received from Oprah's Favorite Things episode was a book by Mark Nepo called "The Book of Awakening". I gave mine away but I finally had some time recently to skim through Gina's copy. The book is a day by day guide to being present in the life you have. Each day has an insightful quote followed by a connecting story and then a few tips for the reader to achieve whatever message that day has.

When I glanced through the book, it was December 19th so I of course went straight straight to that date.

The quote was "As someone sitting beneath a tree can imagine the earth from above the trees, a heart encumbered by reality can know eternity."
The writer, Nepo goes on to explain that during rough seas, sailors go up to the deck of their ships in order to avoid getting sea sick. They stare out at the horizon and eventually feel better. Looking far ahead of them eases their stomachs and also their minds. Nepo continues to say that this way of thinking is so important in our daily lives. I couldn't agree more with this belief. However, it can be incredibly difficult to look beyond the initial pain or failure and see the light at the end of the very dark tunnel.

"Whether facing cancer or riding the insecurity of repeated rejection or trying to surmount the most profound moments of loneliness, my greatest pains and fears have been lessened when I've managed to keep the largest sense of life before me like a horizon." -Mark Nepo

After my parents died just over 3 years ago, I really didn't think too highly of my future. It was so difficult for me to look at the bigger picture and see beyond my immense sadness. I dreaded waking up each morning to find them still gone. I constantly wondered how I would ever be happy again. When on earth would I laugh and be 'ok' with this intense loss of my mom and dad? Somehow, little by little, day by day, month by month and year by year, I've started to look at my horizon a lot more. I'm a big planner and thus I have planned a lot of fun and exciting things in my life. Coming to the realization that I really have so much to look forward to in my life and wonderful people to do it all with has gotten me through many dark days.

Perhaps my horizon is a little cloudy some days but it still is definitely intact and will continue to grow brighter every day. I hope you look to your own horizon every day and let it guide you out of the bad moments in life.

Sunday Citar #1

Welcome to my first ever Sunday Citar! This fun quote meme was created by Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy. However, I discovered it last night on Ashlee's blog @ Mommy, Unscripted. By the way, "citar" basically means 'to quote' in Spanish.

Here are a few quotes that I've found recently:

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." -Niebuhr

"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." -Christopher Robin to Pooh

"Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they're always there." -Unknown

"It may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a necessary evil as good." -Margaret Mead

"It is true that I have had heartache and tragedy in my life. These are things none of us avoids. Suffering is the price of being alive." -Judy Collins

Wise Words?

Today my sister purchased a book, entitled "The Bounce Back Book" by Karen Salmansohn and it's filled with inspiring phrases like this one; "What goes down often bounces back even higher".

I would really love to believe this phrase is true. However, I can't help but wonder, have I bounced back even higher since my parents died? Am I a stronger, more sympathetic and a more adjusted person today? What have I really learned from their passing? How could I possibly have bounced higher? I don't understand...

I get the idea of all this though.. Supposedly, when we are dealt a seriously bad hand, we should somehow be able to rise from it and become even stronger and happier than we ever were to begin with. In spite of the tragedy, we are able to find something amazing in our lives. I don't know about you.. but before the devastating event in my life, I think I was a pretty strong person and was certainly happy with my life. I mean, I got to live overseas for most of my life and then had an awesome college experience. I had no complaints whatsoever! Sure, perhaps I am closer to a few people now then I might have been otherwise but come on, I didn't need my parents to die for that to happen! I am sure that over time I would have become more independent and less naive about the world. In fact, if I'm totally honest with my blogging friends and myself, I'll tell you that I'm not a better person now than I ever was before they died. I feel like there is a huge chunk of my heart missing. That can't be healthy, right? I am definitely more pessimistic about the world. Sadly, I don't look forward to my future as much as I used to when they were still living. The idea of them being grandparents to my kids sent me into a giddy fit!

In Karen's book, she says " that studies have shown that after distressing times, many good people actually reported rebounding to a higher-than-usual good mood. He attributes this bounce-back-higher effect to people appreciating the good in their life after suffering the bad." Well, I can't argue with that logic. When something awful happens to you, you have no choice but to eventually let it force you to really appreciate all the amazing things in your life. I know that I never take for granted any of those precious moments with my family and friends. And I'm always telling people that I love and miss them.

What about you? Do you really appreciate the people that are most important in your life?

Audrey Hepburn

"I believe in pink. i believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and i believe in miracles." --- Audrey Hepburn

I love this quote and didn't have anything to say today so I thought that I would just throw this in my blog.

Moving Words

"Be Bold, Be Brief, Be Gone" -Major Megan McClung

This haunting inscription is on her gravestone at the Arlington Cemetery.

I encourage all my readers to read the following posting from the blog, The Unknown Soldiers. At tonight's closing ceremony of the Military Blog Conference, the writer of this blog won an award. Specifically, his posting on Major Megan McClung really touched me. She was the first female U.S Marine Officer killed in action during the Iraqi war. In just 34 years she accomplished more than most people will in their entire lifetimes. I am in awe of her tremendous bravery and strength and will definitely be visiting her headstone on Monday. Thank you Tom Sileo for educating me on this amazing woman and the countless other unknown soldiers. I think we can learn so much from all their lives. I hope to be a little better everyday because of their actions.

While I may not know a lot about the war and am honestly not happy we got involved in the first place, I can still appreciate all the men and woman who have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. They have selflessly given so much and I am honored to have met a few of these incredible people this weekend. May all those overseas now be protected and feel our support from home.

Recent Memorable Quotes

I'm always on the lookout for memorable quotes and phrases. I suppose a part of me does this because I secretly wish I could be an amazing writer when in reality, I am so far from it. If you've been an avid reader, you would know that I pretty much just write like I talk which isn't saying much... Anyway, I find these interesting quotes everywhere-magazines, books, newspapers, websites, friends and even random signs around the city. Sometimes I have trouble explaining myself to others so I often find myself using the words of others. Here are some recent memorable quotes that I have found. Enjoy!

• "There's still a big part of me that feels like, 'How can it be real?' The fact that someone can just vanish is the strangest, strangest thing. I can't believe it's real. You want to say, 'When is it going to go back to normal?,' but it isn't going to go back to normal. It's going to be a different thing. "Think of it as a permanent limp," says my therapist. "What happened to you is going to color your world, but it doesn't have to color your world too much. I'm never going to get over Tasha, but I might eventually get used to living with her."

This is from an article in the February issue of Marie Claire. Helen Kirwan-Taylor lost her sister when she was 12 and now over 30 years ago since it happened, she is finally coming to terms with her grief and is beginning to move past the horrific tragedy. Sadly, I am able to relate to her feelings. The fact that my parents are no longer living is the strangest feeling in the world and I cannot begin to describe it to anyone who hasn't experienced grief in their lives before. "Normal" has a completely different meaning to me now. I'll never go back to that "normal" before they died, it just doesn't exist for me anymore. I have had to recreate my "normal" life.

• "What I do know is that it's up to me to treat my body with the utmost love and respect. So I feed it organic foods and sweat every-day, do hot yoga, have sex, run marathons. Anything to make my heart race and skin flush."

This comes from an article in Spirit, the Southwest Airlines official magazine. Gail Konop Baker says this after many scares of breast cancer. I think this is really key to being healthy and happy in this life. You gotta take care of yourself. We only get one one body in this life so we have to make sure that it lasts a lifetime. It maybe hard at times but I know that it's crucial to take care of yourself. When everything in life is going wrong, just hop on the treadmill or go make a yummy salad and you'll feel better about everything afterwards. On that note, I'm going to Bikram Yoga tomorrow morning!

• "He thought about the way the staff had made space for his grief as it were a tangible thing. Out in the world people drew back from it, but at the cemetery everyone was accustomed the presence of the bereaved, and so they were matter-of-fact about death in a way that Robert had never appreciated until now."

This is from Audrey Niffenegger's newest novel, "Her Fearful Symmetry". This book centers around death and the after life. I think that looking at grief as a physical thing and something that you can really feel is interesting and helpful in the long run. I suppose I haven't really been around people that really understand grief and death in general. I don't know anyone that is used to it.. and frankly, I don't exactly want to be around people that are comfortable with discussions of this kind all the time. Yet, I do know that once in awhile, it can be good for me.

"Words are the voices of the heart" -Confucius

"Good words are worth much and cost little" -George Herbert

"When ideas fail, words come in very handy" -Johann Wolfgang von Goeth