Differing opinions...

I hold my cards quite close to my chest regarding my choices and opinions. There are those who feel that having differing opinions means that you do not like or respect them. This couldn't be further from the truth. Differing choices and opinions are good. It keeps the world balanced.

I believe in you...

Another quote from "Before We Were Yours" was so spot on. When talking with a friend the other day, she said she felt that when I lost my Dad I lost my best friend. This is true. My Dad was my confidant, my mentor, my dear friend. Although it has been well over 12 years since I lost my Dad to cancer, I can still feel him guiding me in my life. I know he is still there for me: encouraging, directing, advising. The night he passed away he said "You have a good heart, Julie. I believe in you."

I got tearful the other day when my brother accompanied to my father's grave .I placed my hand on Dad's grave. I said that I hated that Dad could not be here to see the good man that Q. had become. My brother said that Dad knows. I do believe my brother was right.

“One of the best things a father can do for his daughter is let her know that she has met his expectations. My father did that for me, and no amount of effort on my part can fully repay the debt.” ― Lisa Wingate, "Before We Were Yours".

"Life is not unlike cinema..."

I am reading the book "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate. I came across this quote tonight and it really resonated with me.

"Life is not unlike cinema. Each scene has its own music, and the music is created for the scene, woven to it in ways we do not understand. No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around in something that doesn’t suit the moment. I let go of the river’s song.”

Saudade...

This untranslatable Portuguese term refers to the melancholic longing or yearning. A recurring theme in Portuguese and Brazilian literature, saudade evokes a sense of loneliness and incompleteness. ... He continues to say that saudade is “not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness".

Never let a toxic person rent space in your head...

Never let a toxic person rent space in your head.  When they lash out at you, either overtly or covertly (and they will), know that their actions are a product of their inner turmoil.  The actions are related to the toxic person’s insecurities, jealousies, defenses.  Do not lash out and reciprocate in anger.  Go inward to your place of quietness and mindfulness.  Simply remove yourself from this person whose negative actions are targeted toward you.  We have known since childhood that if we place our hand on a hot stove burner, we will recoil quickly to avoid pain.  The same reaction should be applied when attacked verbally and/or behaviorally to a toxic person.  Do not give them to power to disrupt your inner peace and joy. Never let a toxic person rent space in your head.

How very blessed...

I am sitting here after having returned from a 3-week journey across Portugal and southern Spain.  Perhaps it is because I have been up for 2 days of travel in returning home which causes me this moment of reflection.  Perhaps it is because my son and I are finally able to decompress with our sweet Sadie and sweet Todd.  I have missed them greatly.  I am tearful tonight. I am having my second glass of wine and I am unashamedly tearful as I realize have fortunate I am.  I may not have that picture-perfect Hallmark family of which the media and society tell us that we must have. I have unabashedly chosen to remove myself from those that do not accept a life which is tied to the external material existence.  I do, however, have a few family and friends which I hold quite close to my heart.  We have not been without the turmoil that is natural to those who we hold most dear, yet we are bonded.  Fiercely, loyalty, lovingly always.  I am stuck so strongly that it nearly takes my breathe away.  I realize in this moment so clearly, so beautifully, how I am very blessed.