A very dear friend of mine and I were were discussing relationships tonight ... what makes them work, what makes them special, and what makes them fall apart. So I decided to sit down and inscribe my thoughts about what I actually want in a lifelong relationship. Some may seem silly and vapid. Some may seem unattinable. Some are ordinary and reasonable.
My thoughts on a perfect relationship:
I want the never ending love affair.
I want us to have an understanding of each others needs, to know the importance of meeting those needs, and to be exceptionally good at it.
I want communication without the fear of consequence.
I want date nights factored into our future.
I want someone to enjoy life with. Even if it means having fun just sitting on the floor or staring at a wall.
I want to breathe heavy when we kiss.
I want to get butterflies before dates.
I want to be able to solve any problem.
I want to understand and forgive.
I want balance.
I want a man that can embrace and thrive on who I really am. Not just handle me, but will perfectly compliment me.
I want a relationship that is untouchable.
I want everything.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Life That Matters
Some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunsets, no minutes, hours or days. Everything you have collected, either treasured or long-forgoten, will pass to someone else.
Your money, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will disappear.
So will your dreams, hopes, ambitions, and plans.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, what street you lived on, or what kind of house you lived in.
It won't matter if you were beautiful, brilliant, or talented.
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built. Not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you are gone.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, and sacrifice that empowered, enriched or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter are the memories that live in those who loved you.
Living a life that matters is not by circumstance, but by choice.
It is my sincerest prayer to live a life that matters.
There will be no more sunsets, no minutes, hours or days. Everything you have collected, either treasured or long-forgoten, will pass to someone else.
Your money, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will disappear.
So will your dreams, hopes, ambitions, and plans.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, what street you lived on, or what kind of house you lived in.
It won't matter if you were beautiful, brilliant, or talented.
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built. Not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you are gone.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, and sacrifice that empowered, enriched or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter are the memories that live in those who loved you.
Living a life that matters is not by circumstance, but by choice.
It is my sincerest prayer to live a life that matters.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Living Your Purpose
Somewhere in you is a dream. It's probably buried deeply under all the day-to-day concerns, yet somewhere in you it lives. It's not at all practical, and it's probably a little outrageous. Even so, it energizes your spirit like nothing else can. It rises to the surface every now and then. And when it does, for a short while, the years melt away and you touch that place where everything seems possible. Then it usually sinks back down under the surface of your awareness. And there it waits, patiently, never losing its hope or its luster. Your dream, as crazy and impractical as it may seem, is trying to tell you something. Your dream, with its promise that you all too quickly, all too often dismiss, wants to tell you who you are. It is time to truly listen to what it has to say? It is time to follow that dream, and live the purpose with which you're blessed.
Monday, January 26, 2009
25 Random Things You Might Not Know About Me
1. My guilty pleasure is southern gas station food. Meat pies, chicken tenders, potato logs, catfish, corn dogs – they speak to my soul. My favorite gas station delicacy is the chicken-on-a-stick at T-Ricks in El Dorado, Arkansas. Chicken breast, onions, peppers, pickles, and potatoes, lightly-batter and deep-fried, served with ketchup and ranch dressing … my tummy is doing butterflies just thinking about it.
2. I love gorgeous crystal stemware. All drinks taste better with lovely presentation. In fact, there’s only one plastic glass in my entire house (and it’s shiny and sparkly, so I keep it).
3. I collect high-heeled shoes, little black dresses, and books.
4. Music can lift me, physically and emotionally, beyond anything else. I can escape out of myself somehow, lost to the sensation, and radiate pure joy within when dancing. When I dance, the music goes right through me, and lifts my heart. It's a physical euphoria that nothing else can touch.
5. My favorite flowers are irises. I also love tulips, star-gazer lilies, violets, and mixed flower bouquets. I abhor roses, especially red ones.
6. My favorite treats are: Godiva strawberry cheesecake truffles, Häagen-Dazs Bailey’s Irish Cream ice cream, homemade caramel pie with whipped cream, and chocolate-covered strawberries.
7. I adore pictures of people that I care about, and my house is filled with photographs of family and friends.
8. I hate pumping my own gas.
9. If I remember a dream, it usually comes true. It can be rather uncanny.
10. I can have complete conversations with people in my sleep, and not remember any of them. It’s been this way my entire life.
11. My very favorite meal is from Genusa’s in Monroe: their Italian house salad, lots of garlic bread with marinara sauce for dipping, cannelloni, and French silk chocolate pie for desert.
12. If I’m not the best at something, I tend to work obsessively at it until I am the best. Or I just avoid doing it.
13. I love traditional, written correspondence. There’s something special about choosing a card, writing a note, and placing it in the mail. I will spend hours in a stationery store looking at cards and feeling paper textures.
14. I can dance in front of thousands of people and never get nervous. I can speak in front of thousands of people and never get nervous. Ask me to sing, and I turn white as a sheet, break out in a cold sweat, and get totally nauseated.
15. My mother and I have an incredible connection. If there is something wrong with one of us, the other will feel it. It works both emotionally and physically. Also, we sound exactly alike on the telephone. My dad can’t even tell us apart.
16. I hate breaking in new dancing shoes. Case and point: I still wear the same tap shoes and character shoes that my parents bought for me when I was ten years old. I just keep having them glued back together and/or re-soled.
17. I am the quintessential Leo. If you look up Leo in the dictionary, there is a picture of me.
18. I love to travel. New places restore my soul.
19. I’m a sparkly, shiny, happy, outgoing, perky, vivacious person 99.9% of the time. This applies to my personality, my clothes, my accessories, my jewelry and my outlook on life. And I absolutely love being me.
20. I adore Tennessee, and have always wanted to live there.
21. I am prettier in pictures than in real life. Also, almost every posed picture ever taken of me has the exact same expression.
22. I don’t have cable and I don’t watch television. There are way too many things that I would rather do. Reading a book is at the top of the list. PS – I’ve never had a television in my bedroom. The bedroom should be a place to relax and escape from the outside world.
23. I don’t like it when people overcook food. French fries should not be crunchy. Steaks should be served rare. Brownies should be chewy.
24. I’m always late. No matter what, I’m always late. Deal with it. Accept it. Love me anyway.
25. It’s my secret dream to take 6 months off from real life and be a Coyote.
2. I love gorgeous crystal stemware. All drinks taste better with lovely presentation. In fact, there’s only one plastic glass in my entire house (and it’s shiny and sparkly, so I keep it).
3. I collect high-heeled shoes, little black dresses, and books.
4. Music can lift me, physically and emotionally, beyond anything else. I can escape out of myself somehow, lost to the sensation, and radiate pure joy within when dancing. When I dance, the music goes right through me, and lifts my heart. It's a physical euphoria that nothing else can touch.
5. My favorite flowers are irises. I also love tulips, star-gazer lilies, violets, and mixed flower bouquets. I abhor roses, especially red ones.
6. My favorite treats are: Godiva strawberry cheesecake truffles, Häagen-Dazs Bailey’s Irish Cream ice cream, homemade caramel pie with whipped cream, and chocolate-covered strawberries.
7. I adore pictures of people that I care about, and my house is filled with photographs of family and friends.
8. I hate pumping my own gas.
9. If I remember a dream, it usually comes true. It can be rather uncanny.
10. I can have complete conversations with people in my sleep, and not remember any of them. It’s been this way my entire life.
11. My very favorite meal is from Genusa’s in Monroe: their Italian house salad, lots of garlic bread with marinara sauce for dipping, cannelloni, and French silk chocolate pie for desert.
12. If I’m not the best at something, I tend to work obsessively at it until I am the best. Or I just avoid doing it.
13. I love traditional, written correspondence. There’s something special about choosing a card, writing a note, and placing it in the mail. I will spend hours in a stationery store looking at cards and feeling paper textures.
14. I can dance in front of thousands of people and never get nervous. I can speak in front of thousands of people and never get nervous. Ask me to sing, and I turn white as a sheet, break out in a cold sweat, and get totally nauseated.
15. My mother and I have an incredible connection. If there is something wrong with one of us, the other will feel it. It works both emotionally and physically. Also, we sound exactly alike on the telephone. My dad can’t even tell us apart.
16. I hate breaking in new dancing shoes. Case and point: I still wear the same tap shoes and character shoes that my parents bought for me when I was ten years old. I just keep having them glued back together and/or re-soled.
17. I am the quintessential Leo. If you look up Leo in the dictionary, there is a picture of me.
18. I love to travel. New places restore my soul.
19. I’m a sparkly, shiny, happy, outgoing, perky, vivacious person 99.9% of the time. This applies to my personality, my clothes, my accessories, my jewelry and my outlook on life. And I absolutely love being me.
20. I adore Tennessee, and have always wanted to live there.
21. I am prettier in pictures than in real life. Also, almost every posed picture ever taken of me has the exact same expression.
22. I don’t have cable and I don’t watch television. There are way too many things that I would rather do. Reading a book is at the top of the list. PS – I’ve never had a television in my bedroom. The bedroom should be a place to relax and escape from the outside world.
23. I don’t like it when people overcook food. French fries should not be crunchy. Steaks should be served rare. Brownies should be chewy.
24. I’m always late. No matter what, I’m always late. Deal with it. Accept it. Love me anyway.
25. It’s my secret dream to take 6 months off from real life and be a Coyote.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)