Letting the sun shine...

I have had time to clean out a lot of junk (I still have a lot to do) that Ryan and I have been hanging on to since we moved into our house. I know it was two years ago and we still have stuff to go through. It seems like we either made piles of things we would get to later or we didn't know where to put something so we formed a closet full of stuff we just didn't know what to do with. While going through items from high school, I found several journals filled with quotes. I used to love collecting quotes and journal about them. I would think about them, apply them where I could. It was my therapy.

The other day I found this quote and it hit home. "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are" — Marianne Williamson. After thinking about it, I realized that there were (are) so many times this year, month, week where I failed to stop and recognize the moment that I was living in and appreciate it. Society seems to put a large pressure on wanting what you don't have, having what you can't afford, saying you are something you're really not, rushing through the hours, days, weeks without stopping to appreciate the point in life which you are living. There will be better days and I am sure worse but each day brings something and you are a steward of that time. There are so many people who think about the good 'ol days wishing they could go back. I want to say to them, "What are you going to think about TODAY when it is your good 'ol day 10 years from now? Don't waste it!" For me it has been a tough year, I don't go a day without missing or thinking of those I have lost, it has been a tough month full of uncertainty and although I could think (and on a bad day have thought) "Why did this happen?" or "Why didn't this go differently?" I fail to think about the times I did have, the memories I did make, the experience I did receive. I learned the tough lesson, don't hold back. If you want to say something say something, if you want to cry then cry, if you want to laugh but don't want to interrupt anyone just laugh. I have the time to appreciate what God HAS given me, what He has provided for me, the family and friends He has surrounded me with and a husband He has made for me and to be able to realize and appreciate how much I do have, I feel blessed.