Backwash

You wouldn't let someone sip from your drink and give you their backwash...you'd protect your drink.  So why wouldn't you protect your life and heart the same way?

People have all kinds of troubling experiences.  Likewise, it takes time and effort to heal holistically.  When you try to move forward to have new experiences without healing wholly, you make a conscious choice to allow emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual backwash to enter your life. 

You are your own gatekeeper.  You are the bottle cap.  Not everyone deserves a sip.  Be weary of who you allow access to your life and dreams.  Work on your holistic healing...don't be the cause of anyone else's backwash.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

A Risk

Sometimes love brings pain.  To love doesn't mean you have to hurt or that you will.  To love means you're willing to risk being hurt.  Just because there's a risk involved doesn't mean you shouldn't love.  Love is worth the risk of pain.

Love in spite of the possibility of pain.  Love because of the possibility of bliss...pure happiness.  Be strong.  Love always.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

When To Go

Every once in awhile, you run across speed bumps a bit too fast.  They do their job by slowing you down.  You may scrape the bottom of your car...or crack your bumper, if you're going fast enough.  You may even hit the bump in a crazy way and have an accident.  All of this could happen...if you're going too fast.

We all have our proverbial speed bumps that call our attention to just how fast we're moving through life.  They make us take notice of the things we neglect, the things we consider priorities, and things that need to change.  When driving, we slow down as we approach a speed bump, slowly go over it, and pick up speed to continue our journey once crossing it.  That's life...approach situations with caution, slowly assess your surroundings and the particulars, and know when it's time to go.  Never hang around in any situation longer than your heart tells you to. 

If you don't move, you'll hold up traffic.  Others' lives also depend on your movement.  Be wise and be aware.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

Larger

You have to be larger than your circumstances or problems.  You have to see yourself as having already achieved your desired outcome.  You have to know, from within, that you won't always deal with the same problem(s).  You must understand that, ultimately, everything will work out to your benefit.  You have to be optimistic...you must have faith.

The more you think negatively, the more you will speak negatively.  The more you speak negatively, the more you will act negatively.  Don't quit on yourself before you give yourself a fighting chance.  Don't give up on what could be if you just hang in there.  Stay focused.

Be strong and have faith.  The end is near and you'll be rewarded for your dedication.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

Love Note 10

Dear Love,

I'm thankful for how you're always there.  I appreciate the warmth and tenderness I feel when you're around.  I love the butterflies that come when you're fresh and new.  I adore the way you make me feel like I'm the most beautiful and most special person in the world.  I truly don't know what I'd do without you.

Smiling,
My Heart

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

It's Not What You Think

Sometimes your past gets the best of you.  You judge people by it.  You gauge situations by it.  You develop a code or change your behavior according to it.  However, it's not what you think.

You begin to think that all the trials that come your way are meant to knock you down and kill your dreams.  You start to see negativity wherever you look.  You slowly become brainwashed into believing that everyone and everything is against you.  You are conditioned by your circumstances to adopt a pessimistic perspective of the world.  Nevertheless, it's not what you think.

There are those who seek to harm you.  There are those who aim to destroy the good in you.  There are some who'd like to see each of your dreams crushed.  What some mean for your demise, God uses to strengthen you. What seems like the worst, the hardest, the most frustrating and the most painful is never what you think...it's much more.

Your circumstances are not what you think...they are not who you are.  Your experiences are only preparing you for the greatness to come.  Every encounter is so much more than what you think.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.

The Purpose of Pain

Without pain, you'd never comprehend being hurt.  Without pain, you couldn't fathom healing.  Without pain, you'd forget some of life's priceless lessons.  Without pain you wouldn't appreciate comfort.  Without pain you couldn't truly experience life. Without pain you couldn't truly appreciate joy.

As much as we don't like pain and wish it didn't exist; it has a purpose.  When we learn, pain serves as a reminder of what we shouldn't do.  Pain tells us that there are consequences to our actions.  Pain pushes us to want better and to hope that despite how bad things get...they can and will get better.  Because of pain, we can appreciate healing.

It's beautiful to be you...simply beautiful.