Life Began

Happy Wednesday,

Aloha. How are you all doing today? All is well here? I’m actually in beautiful Hawaii. My wonderful niece invited me to join her and her amazing daughters on their ten day vacation. We are staying on the big island and so far, I’m in love. Getting off the plane, was simply amazing. An outdoor airport, heck to the yeah!! It was cloudy and the wind was blowing and I just love this type of weather. I do plan on writing my blog pool side this week, so stay tuned.

I was thinking this morning how blessed I am, to be able to come to this amazing island and see the beauty of the ocean and being surrounded by lava rocks and trees, it’s paradise. I was thinking how when I was back in the cult, we always looked to the future for a world wide paradise that was promised by the religion if we followed a strict lifestyle of doing things the organizations way. Then when you come to a place like this, you see that there is paradise here on earth, we simply need to look outside and we’ll see it, just about anywhere we look.

It’s funny, I used to live for the future, and now, I live for the present. Life is amazing and taking this journey to Hawaii, makes me want to explore more of life, see the world. John and I have a couple of trips planned over the next month, so I’m excited to see new places with the amazing man I love. I’m also grateful to be able to have a more open mind about life. I’m lucky too to have a man that wants me to see the world and enjoy life. Having his love and support makes traveling without him, doable.

I know I tend to share tons of quotes and I do hope that’s okay with you all. I actually will save quotes to write about at a later time, and this happens to be one of those times that I’m sharing a saved quote. Seems fitting for today and for my trip here to this amazing island of Hawaii.

“Some say life begins at 40, others at 50… All nonsense!!! Life begins when we decide to stop pleasing the audience.” Back in the day I would have been a little offended by such quotes as these, because my thinking back then was looking at things from a very critical standpoint. While I still feel that some thinking can lead us, or me to a selfish thought process, I do believe there needs to be a balance in thinking. I’ve come to realize, it’s okay to take a time out for oneself. It’s okay to put yourself ahead of others, and it’s okay to live life and be happy. We are all in charge of our own happiness and it’s a huge bonus to have people in our lives who enhance our happiness.

For me, life began about the age of fifty. It was then that I started finding myself. If it weren’t for John, this blog wouldn’t be possible. You see, when John and I first became a couple, we would go a week or so without seeing each other, so to pass the time, I would make him cards and write him letters, letters that would express my thoughts, my fears, wants and desires and one day, he approached me and told me that I should write a blog. I had heard of blogs before, but never read one or had a clue really what a blog was, so John showed me and set me up on this blog site and wow, I was blown away at how deep I began to dive into writing. He saw my passion for writing before I did and I am so grateful to him for giving me the gift of being able to express myself in this way.

Life began at fifty for me. I learned to embrace the things I love, and, though at times I add guilt to my feeling list for saying no sometimes to those I love when they ask me to do something, I’m learning that it’s okay to have to say no, especially when I’m in pain or when I need to accomplish things that I need done. I used to run my self ragged, doing everything anyone and everyone asked me to do, but after my accident, I’ve had to say no, I just don’t have the stamina to be in overdrive all the time and for the first time in my life, I’m enjoying the journey of life. I’m enjoying being able to write more often. I am enjoying jumping on my golf cart and simply, cruising around the lake. I’m enjoying the simpler things and I love it. I sometimes just listen to the kids at the park laughing and playing. I don’t know who they are, but the sound of little ones enjoying life to the fullest by just running and playing, it makes me happy.

One thing that I am learning to embrace is the fact that life is what we make of it. Life is about the journey, not the destination. Getting somewhere is all apart of life. I’ve even learned to leave a few minutes earlier when I need to be somewhere so that I can enjoy the drive to where ever it is I’m headed. I love it when John drives and I can just look around and see things. I’m excited to be saving for my mini cooper convertible and I’m journaling about all the places I want to go once I get it. Inspiration for my blog can be found just about anywhere, and I’m excited to see where I end up.

When did your life begin? Have you always had a passion for life? If you are one of those people who are living life with little to no regrets, I applaud you. For those of us who didn’t figure out that life’s journey is all about enjoying the ride, I hope we can finally see that, in this life, we were all given the gift to enjoy it, which means, we don’t always have to put everyone else’s wants, needs and desires ahead of our own. I love the quote, ”life begins when we stop trying to please the audience.”

My dear readers, I know it takes effort to put ourselves first. I read somewhere recently, if you can’t love yourself, how can you love others. John always says that to me too. He explains to me that if I’m not putting my own happiness into the mix, then how can I add to his happiness. If I’m depleted in life, then I have nothing left to give and that’s exactly how I felt in my last relationship. I gave, gave, gave and at the end of the day, nothing was ever given back to me, by him or by myself, so when I began falling, I had nothing or no one to hold on too. I don’t want to ever be in that situation again. I don’t want to miss out anymore on this amazing journey of life. I want to explore this world we live in. I want to experience new things, new people and I want to continue to grow the wonderful friendships John and I have made in our lake community.

Life has begun. I wake up and thank God everyday for letting me wake up. I no longer ask him why I have to hurt, or what do I need to do to stop hurting, instead I thank God for my life and I pray that those who have it worse then I do, that he helps them through the day. I pray that he shows me what he wants from me each day, be it grow in my own understanding of life, or be it that he puts me where I need to be to help others, and it seems like I’m given more time to accomplish what I need to do, all while being able to still be in service to others in some capacity. Life is good and I’m thankful for each lesson that I am presented with, they help me grown as a person.

I would love to hear from you guys on how life is treating you and I would love to know, when did your life begin? Shoot me a text or drop me a comment, I love, love, love hearing from each and everyone of you.

Well guys, I’m thinking of heading to the pool for some quiet time by myself. The kiddos are getting a little antsy here and I need to just go and read a book and swim a little bit, but, I do promise to write again, and next time, I’ll be coming to you pool side with a view to the ocean. Until next time, please don’t forget, Love Life++