“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein.

Not sure if I entirely agree with this. But I do like the quote

So here I was talking to one of my favorite friends about relationships and marriage.

It has become apparent to me recently that I have not ever had a good model for relationships simply because there havent been any successful relationships of people close to me in my life that I could reflect on. My parents are divorced and the same is true with most of my friends. And for the friends that have married parents still…. Well their parents are typically in a position where they dont love each other anymore or have some sort of serious marital problem that does not allow them anymore to be a functional team. 

So talking to my friend, who is one of the only people I know who has had a good set of parents to model after. I was talking to him about how he solves his relationship and soon to be marital problems. 

He said that talking about things and putting yourself in the other persons shoes works rather well.  Something more that caught my attention, I asked him how he felt about being married so early, hes not even twenty one years old yet.  He mentioned that with how long their relationship has been. There are many situations and times where the maturity of their relationship has outgrown the typical maturity of their age. Given that and their dedication to each other it has become harder for them to not be married because they have already committed so much of their lives together. Mentioning also that the way they have been able to grow as themselves as well as grow together in a relationship has made him understand that relationships are not about just finding a perfect person who matches you, but instead about finding someone you work well enough with to be able to take the time and decide that its worth it to grow together.

Through the conversation I ended up being incredibly impressed by the amount of maturity this twenty year old kid had been able to articulate. Honestly, I have hope for this relationship and I believe that they will truly be able to work.  Its reassuring, thought I might share that with you all.

Also, happy new year, lest make “the last year” count. haha

“Of all the things we gain in life, sometimes it seems like the only point is to lose it again, that nothing in life will be permanent, we will lose everything we ever have, our lively hood, our family, our belongings, even our own lives. But the one thing that sticks out that we must not lose no matter what, is ourselves.”

“As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.”
-James Allen.

“A mans Weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another mans; they are brought about by himself, and not another; and they can only be altered by himself, never another.”
-James Allen

“We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.”

“Falling in love with someone isn’t always going to be easy… Anger… tears… laughter.. It’s when you want to be together despite it all. That’s when you truly love another. I’m sure of it.”

“It is impossible to fall out of love. Love is such a powerful emotion, that once it envelops you it does not depart. True love is eternal. If you think that you were once in love, but fell out of it, then it wasn’t love you were in. There are no ‘exit’ signs in love, there is only an ‘on’ ramp.”

“True Love burns the brightest, But the brightest flames leave the deepest scars.”