.:reflecting:.

I am laying awake, completely unable to sleep, and find myself reflecting over the past several years...the ups, the downs...the good and bad...a tearful journey down memory lane. All the things that have happened to me and others that are very dear to me. Lessons that I have learned, and taken away from experiences, good and bad. Losing a sense of who I am, and the amazing feeling of finding myself again. Laughing until your stomach hurts, crying until your head aches....so many emotions that one person doesn't realize they possess. Realizing that if others are able to make such enormous impacts on your life, maybe, just maybe, you have impacted somebody else's life in one small way or another. Never knowing who is watching you and your example from a distance.  Finding out that Dorothy had it right from the beginning, "There's no place like home." Sometimes we go through things in our life that teach us more about ourselves then we wanted to really know. I know for me, this is one of those times. I can honestly say I am at a point in my life where I am continually learning about myself and the people around me. The more people I meet the more I learn about who I am and the kind of person I want to be. I am who I am and I am sorry if that isn't enough for some people but I think that if I tried to change I would no longer be recognizable, to myself... the biggest tragedy there is. I have loved in my life and I have hated and I think both have taught me so many valuable things about human nature, but more importantly about myself. As much as I would like to not feel anything because it would be easier that way, how could I truly live? As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once, and it's harder everytime. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast. You'll eventually lose someone you love...So, take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt, because every sixty seconds you spend upset, is a minute of happiness that you'll never get back. Life's too short to spend looking back and dwelling on the past, what's done is done...look forward and see what the future has in store for you....Make your life what you want it to be for yourself, and start now. There is no time like the present. You are what you make yourself to be.