Giving Up

(A space shuttle at the Air & Space Museum in Northern Virginia)

God brings men into deep waters, 

not to drown them, 

but to cleanse them.  

~John Aughey

Giving Up

It's so much easier to give up then to fight.  How many challenges in your life have you walked away from?  How many missed opportunities have gone by?  How many promises have you not kept?  And why?  Somewhere you decided that it was easier to either throw your hands up or just ignore the obstacles hoping it would fix itself or just "go away".  But life doesn't work like that.  We are presented with challenges almost every single day in order to learn more about ourselves.  Without struggles we would never know how brave we are.  Without embarrassment we would never know how to have grace.  Without pain we would never know how to empathize.  See everything we go through is not random, it has been designed to get us to be aware of our potential.  Challenges are opportunities for us to grow.  It's when we give up on ourselves that we end up repeating cycles, feeling depressed and even lost.  Look at today as an opportunity to change all of that around.  Today is going to be different then any other day before.  Today is the day that we are not going to give up.  We are going to push ahead with everything we have to give.  We will watch how our lives start to transform for the better because we decided that we were worthy of being here.  Even more so, we are worthy to see how much potential we truly have inside of ourselves.

Truths

We hold these truths to be self-evident, 

that all men are created equal, 

that they are endowed by their Creator 

with certain unalienable Rights, 

that among these are Life, 

Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

~The Declaration of  Independence

Truths
We all want a good and productive life, the freedom to pursue it and we want to be happy while going after all of these things.  Sometimes it may feel like to much to go for all at once but we all deserve to be happy, to define our own lives whichever way we choose and to make no apologies for enjoying the ride along the way.  We also deserve to surround ourselves with those who hold similar truths.  Life is too short not to go after your dreams.  Life is to fragile not to embrace and enjoy every moment you have with your loved ones.  Life is not going to wait for you to join it, it will roll you over if you stay still.  As we celebrate our nations independence day, also remember to celebrate your own.  Toast to your truths, never apologize for seizing every day to the fullest and stop pursuing happiness and just be happy already! 

Quality

If you're alone, I'll be your shadow.  

If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.  

If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow.  

If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile.  

But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me.  

~Author Unknown

Quality
You may be surrounded by many friends and family in your life.  You have a great time with them, a lot of laughs and sometimes even way too much fun.  Having a good time is important.  Smiling is essential for your soul.  Just make sure these relationships you are cultivating are based on quality and not quantity.  You can spend everyday with someone but if the connection is staying on the surface, you are not really getting to know who they are and therefore you are missing out on learning and growing.  The more quality relationships you can have with others (be it one or ten) the more you will fill your heart and soul with even more love and purpose.  People have stories.  They have experiences.  They have something you can learn from them and you have experiences that will help them grow as well.  The next time you make time for another person, make sure it's of substance and quality.  They are worth so much more and so are you.