Reflections

Happy Friday everyone! I actually took this picture a couple nights ago when I was doing something I haven't stopped to do in quite some time. I was literally relaxing, chilling, reflecting, and just staring at the sky. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily routine that we forget to stop and think about everything occurring in our lives. The good things, the bad things, the unknown, the things we aren't sure of yet, etc. One thing that constantly amazes me is that there are people out there in the world who not only are against you, but who will actually do things to try to take away your happiness. I used to let all the negativity get me down, but now I just laugh at it. If people want to bring you down, let them tire themselves out trying. They won't win, and in the end they're only hurting themselves. How I look at it is...anyone who's not on your side, is against you. This is something that I've seen in my own personal life at times throughout the years, and now see my own friends, loved ones, etc. going through it as well. Look at who's surrounding you during the happy times, not just when you're down. The people who are genuinely happy for you and supportive, the people who are truly your number one fans at all times. I'll never forget the line in the song by train "your best friend always sticking up for you, even when I know you're wrong..." 

Just remember you only have one life to live so choose what (and I guess who) you do wisely. Any time you spend down, upset, angry, etc. is time you can NEVER get back. Unfortunately, the clock can never be turned around. Think about on your dying day looking back at your life in hindsight...make sure you have no regrets, lived life to the fullest, took no shit from anyone, spent as much time with loved ones as possible, enjoyed the little things, and truly only surrounded yourself with things and people that made you happy. I know I'm just as guilty as anyone of getting very worked up about the littlest things, and that will probably be one of my biggest regrets. I am very sensitive, take things extremely personally, and always had a hard time forgiving people- some who did deserve a second chance and some who didn't. 

The time I spent staring at the beautiful Chicago sky was probably one of the most relaxing 20 minutes of my life. I decided I'm going to try to to make it a goal to go with my dog to the lakefront at least once a week, leave my cell phone at home, and just enjoy how lucky we really are. Sometimes I wish I could walk my puppy Dash past the anti-cruelty society and all kill shelters/puppy mills and try to explain to her how lucky she really is, but since I can't exactly do that...in the mean time, I will just take my own advice. As Bradley Cooper constantly repeats in Silver Linings Playbook..."Excelsior."