Appreciation

Happy Monday, friends.


I spent a good hour trying to figure out what I should write about. My amazing weekend? Maybe. My scumbag ex? That'd be a great topic many could relate to. My past 36 hours without a cigarette? Could be helpful in venting and mildly entertaining to the public. And then, just like that, the world fell apart.

It seems like today is just meant to be doomed. Two of my dearest friends, and I'm sure COUNTLESS others, are grieving the loss of a good friend. I passed an issue at a local high school on my way in where, suffice to say, troubled teenage angst is on the rise. The first homicide in god knows HOW long in the quiet area where I grew up happened over the weekend, with no results in finding the suspect. It seems like today is just destined to be one of mourning...and it wouldn't be right to dish on the superficial with so many in pain today.

I won't go off about how we're all living in the dramatics of our worlds, and surrounding ourselves in the negative. We know this. Life has stresses and demands that weigh on us, forcing us to focus on the bad, get lost in jealousy, anger, frustration, or any of the things we have to deal with on a normal day-to-day basis. It's days like this, when everyone and everything seems to be falling apart around us, that we need to step back and appreciate the good. The time we DID have with a good friend. The times we have NOW to have with those we love. To look back over the years and forget the drama, the anger, the horrible things we do to each other, when in reality, we have so much to apprecaite. Whether it be the support and dynamic of a good friendship, the love of a supportive significant other, the ties of a family... we've all got something. And it's times like this that we need to make sure the ones we love KNOW that, that they're the reason you've pulled through certain obstacles or situations, or even made things just the tiniest bit easier.

To my nearest and dearest, I adore you. There aren't enough words to get my point across, or enough space to dedicate to each of you, so I'm making a solemn pledge to show you on a daily basis.

Take nothing for granted, folks. Life is fragile, but wonderful. And each day is a new chance, a new opportunity, to do it right.