Twinkle, twinkle little star

Have you ever sat down under the sky, when there were no clouds, and just looked at the stars? Have you ever wondered what starts are and when they started shining? Have you ever thought about the fact that those stars that you see in the sky tonight, the Japanese will se in a couple of months?

What is a star than? A scientific explanation would be that a star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma held together by gravity. That explanation helps my understanding as little as a bag full of stones would help me if I climbed up a mountain. The closest star that we can see from Earth is the sun, but yet it feels so far away. Most stars are between 1 and 10 billion years old, and it is a topic that has been researched as far back as there are traces of life on Earth. People have used this research to create horoscopes, preach religion and as an element to predict the future. But it has also been used to create myths; I'm sure you have heard the expression "wish upon a falling star".

If you now think about that the youngest star is 1 billion years old... That means that the stars have been on the sky before there were even a sign of human trace on Earth. Many times we have felt that we don't have anything in common with people that lived 500 years ago.. Even today some of us mean that we don't have anything in common with people that live in another country or have a different culture than we do. But yes we do have something in common; we have the stars!

So go out one night, why not tonight, and look at the stars. They are the same stars that were there last week, last year, decade... The same stars from when we were kids, when our parents were kids and before our grandparents were even born. They are the same stars that will shine during our children's and grandchildren's lives. In 200 years no one will know who we were, but they will know the same stars that we once did.

I saw her last night...

I saw her last night. The girl whose heart has been broken over and over again. She has built walls, built bridges, fallen, cried, laughed, loved, hated... Until that day when her fake smile could not be kept in place anymore, the same day when she stood in front of the mirror and saw a lost soul. A tear rolled, slowly, down her cheek and she whispered to herself with a low, shattered voice: "I can't do this anymore". She made up her mind that day that she was not going to pretend anymore. She went to school with a shattered expression in her face, because that is how she felt inside and the only brilliance that you could see in her eyes was the one made by the tears that were pressing up in her eyes but which she bravely forced back. She became a robot, stuck in her every day routines, and had no desire to be communicative. Her cellphone stopped ringing and her mailbox that had to be cleaned out daily before was empty now. People had given up on her and she had given up on people. The only comfort that she had was Fluffy, the bear, that has been her best friend since she was two years old...

I saw her last night. She was walking on the other side of the street with her head held low fighting back her tears. I could not help but to feel sorry for her because I know why she was sad; life got to her!

Putting the skeletons back in the closet

All of us have an event, a memory from the past that regularly sneaks out and starts stalking us like a shadow. Maybe it is an old relationship that has gone wrong that comes back to haunt when you think about all the happy times that you have had with this person. Maybe it is something really painful, that you have been taken advantage of in any kind of way, that comes back to stalk you when you least want it to. Or maybe it is something that you yourself decided to leave behind even when it hurt, and it haunts you when you think back on your decision with the question "what if?".

It is very easy to think about all the good things that existed in a relationship; all the times you cuddled while watching a movie together, everytime you held hands in town and made all the people around you jealous or all the times you stayed up until 4 am just talking about anything that came to your minds. But when memories like this comes back to haunt you, remember that there is a reason why this person is not in your life today. Think about all the awful things that led your break up and... put the skeleton back in the closet!
If a terrible memory from your past comes back to stalk you and you feel that no matter how fast you run it always catches up with you. Turn around, stare this pain right into it's eyes, remind yourself about all the good things that you have in your life; family, friends, school, work.. whatever it is that makes you happy and... put the skeleton back in the closet!
"What if" are the two words that often cross people's minds. Have you ever decided to leave something or someone behind you even though it hurt? Maybe a boyfriend/girlfriend or a friend that you felt was always bringing you down and you turned your back, clenched your teeth together a walked away. But when you thought about them you always wondered what it would be like if you still were together or still were friends. Instead of remembering all the happy times, look back at all the actions that forced you to make that painful decision and... put the skeleton back in the closet!

Whenever and whatever comes back to haunt you, no matter if it's a lost love, change of work, painful memories or anything else that you have left behind and decided to never think about again... When these memories come back to make you doubt your decisions take a look at the past and remember why you decided to walk away and... PUT THE SKELETNS BACK IN THE CLOSET!

The one who doesn't want to will find a reason, the one who wants to will find a way!

The last couple of days I have been thinking about people who have walked out of my life, and I am sure that this is a thing that everybody can relate to. I'm sure that you all have had friends that you have known forever and thought that nothing will ever be able to seperate you, and than got into a fight over an insignificant thing and went your seperate ways. The same thing has happened with relatives, colleagues, boyfriends, girlfriends.. or whoever has meant a lot to you and who you believed will always be by your side that has suddenly walked out of your life.

Many of you have, just like me, given up on people, closed your hearts to new acquaintances who wants to be a part of your life because the only thing you keep thinking about is "when will they leave?" I know that the pain after the people who left has sometimes been unbearable and that you have kept thinking that something must be wrong with you since so many people have decided to leave you. And I'm sure that most of you have come to a point when you have realized that there is no use letting people into your life because sooner or later everybody is going to hurt you, the only thing that you have to decide is who is going to be worth your pain! Right?

Wrooooooong!! Surely, many people have walked out of our lives but that is a natural process. Maybe we are supposed to spend a certain time of our lives with certain people and move on.. But I have come to a conclusion and I would like to illustrate it with an example. I have a friend, a best friend, who knows just about everything there is to know about me. This girl can read me like an open book, even when I try to hide my pain from her, and when I have to make a decision she knows what/who I'm gonna choose before I have figured it out myself. This friend is currently living far away from me, over 2000 km away, but even though I don't get to feel her physical presence she is there for me when things are good and when things are bad, she is still a part of my life even though we have to update eachother through mail, text messages and phonecalls. I am not going to mention her by name but I am sure she will recoginze herself when she reads this.. This friend has all reasons in the world to slowly walk out of my life (like many people have done before) but she is holding on to me now tighther then ever. So as you can probably understand; People who wants to leave us will find reasons to do it, but the people who truly care about us will find a way to stay in our lives!

To sum up I will state my point; The one who doesn't want to will find a reason, the one who wants to will find a way! And this is a general rule in life! Keep that in mind next time you hurt over something/someone!

Tomorrow is taken for granted!

Every morning in the newspaper we read about people that have died.. Murder.. Heartattack.. Age.. Accidents etc. But we don't give these much thought because it is not the people that we love that and we continue our lives, just like we have never read the articles. I'm sure that all of you have at some point wanted to call a person and apologize for something bad that you have done, or just to say that you love them.. But than you have thought "ah, I'll do it tomorrow" and tomorrow you repeat the same pattern. Because there is always 'another day' to say our "I love you's", "I'm sorry's", "I miss you's" or whatever it is that is on your heart. But if this person had suddenly been taken away from you, disappeared from your life in some way.. Would you regret that you never took the time to make that phone call that you have been meaning to do for so long but never gotten around to do it?

Have you ever thought about what would happen if we found out that the world was coming to it's end in half an hour? I'm sure that all telephone lines would be overloaded because every cell phone, house phone and telephone booth would be used by people calling their loved ones and telling them how much they mean to them and how much they love them!

Live is not something that we should take for granted! We never know when our loved ones is going to be taken away from us, so take your time TODAY to make that phone call that you are saving for "tomorrow".

Holding on or letting go?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you know that the only right thing to do is let go of something; your boyfriend, girlfriend, family, sports, work etc. But in the exact second you feel like letting go you remember why you've been holding on for so long, and you decide to give it yet another "one last try"...

To hold on to things and people that you care about is in the nature of humans. I'm sure all of us has a close friend or relative that has moved away, or for some other reason no longer is in our life, that we miss so much.. So much that when we see this person we are alomost afraid to hug them because we're afarid that we will never want to let go. These are people and feelings that are not hurting us, but there are people in our surroundings that we are fully aware of that they are not good for us, but still we hold on to them.. why? Maybe because they have been in our lives for so long that we are afraid to even think about what our lives would be like without them near.. Maybe because we care for these people more than we should, more than they deserve.. or maybe we are holding on because this person has done something, at some point in our life, that has brought us endless joy, and we want to repay them for this (without realizing that we have already done this). It is so easy to hold on, and it takes so little to learn to love a person so much that you never want to let them go, and you believe that you are a strong person for being able to keep these people in your life.

But.. the real strength is in letting go. Because it is often it is these people who have done something good in our lives that are using our goodness and take and expect a lot more from us than they deserve. After a while we learn that these people are treating us wrong. I'm sure that you recognize that you have given everything to your boyfriend/girlfriend, in a realationship, but have got nothing in return, or covered for a collegue many times but when you needed help they refused to help you. I'm sure you have let a friend cry out their heart on your shoulders but when you needed them they were nowhere to be found, or done many favours for a person but when you needed a favour they wanted to get payed. And even though our list of why we should let go of these people is miles-long, we only see then one or two reasons why we should hold on. But now is the time to open our eyes, to look over our shoulders and see the things that we know has always been there but which we did not want to see. It is time to gather all ou courage and simply let go of people and things that are hurting us. We do not necessarily need to push them out of our lives, just distance them enough so that they can't hurt us anymore..

And when this is done, all we will have left is joy. Because the people that will still be in our lives are the ones that brings happiness to us, the ones that makes us smile when we feel like we're never gonna laugh again.. The ones that will be lying next to us if we were sad even if it means that they will miss the concert of their favourite artist. It is only these people that DESERVE to be in our lives.

Every breath is an oportunity to receive and let go. I receive love and let go of pain!
- Brenda MacIntyre

To live or survive?

In today's society many people seem to think that the words "live" and "survive" means the same thing. This is something that I have been thinking about for a couple of days now, and looking back on my life I have realized that they mean two different things!

To survive takes a lot of strength, to get through tough periods in life.. betrayal by your friends and family, loss of love, unsuccessful studies or whatever else that has been a setback one's life. Big, just as small, setbacks takes strength to get through, a strength that exists within us, in every individual, that we did not know was there. And when we think that we won't be able to pull through, that we can't do it anymore, that's when we find new strength.. Some of us find it in our friends, family, siblings, God, even strangers.. they give us new strength to pull through another day until we see the light at the end of the dark tunnel at last.

But to really live, THAT takes courage! To really open your eyes and take a step forward and realize that you have a place in this world, to open your heart for new acquaintances and love that is heading towards us. To suggest a new idea at work or school, or to take off your shoes and walk barefoot in the green summer-grass. To try a new fruit that you have never tasted before or to travel to a place that has a culture different from your own.. That is what I call to living..

So do you really live, or are you simply a survivor?