Friendship

"Tis the privilege of friendship

to talk nonesense and

have her nonsense respected."

-Charles Lam

I have a friend, I'm fortunate enough to have a few, who just get me.  It is  cliche, but if you are lucky enough to have one as well, you understand.  To have someone like this in one's life is an enourmous blessing.

I have a friend like this in particular, who knows me almost better than I know myself.  I am free to be honest and open about what is on my mind and I never have to worry that she will not or cannot understand.  Not only does she listen, but once

I make up my mind about something she is the first

to support my decision. 

 Buddha suggested “Adaptability” as a necessity in any relationship.  Each person much be capable of entertaining different perspectives and points of view.  It is human nature to "screw up."  We all have faults, pains, afflictions, and infirmities that friendship has the ability and instinct to heal.  A true authentic relationship with someone is the understanding and acceptance of one another despite hardships.  There is no room for judgment or superiority when one person needs another. 

You can know all there is to know about one another, yet there is still always something to say.  In his article "Seeing Isamu Noguchi," author Roger Lipsey writes "We're all leading a life of experiment." 

 Difficult times are inevitable and the burden is easier to bear with the support of another.  I believe life is about finding who we are and then spending our lives working to become who we want to be.  I am certain that the journey can only be enhanced if shared with another.

Opposition



"Success is not measured by

what you accomplish, but by the

opposition you have encountered,

 and the courage with which you

have maintained the struggle

 against overwhelming odds."

-Orison Swett Marden

They say that "there is opposition in all things." Well, whoever they is, I have found to be absolutely correct.  When I analyze what the word "opposition" means to my life specifically, my mind goes back to my high school athletic career. 

Athletics was my priority.  It was how I identified myself (something I wish I could go back and tell myself not to do.)  I played volleyball every Fall, ran track every spring, and filled the winter with club volleyball or indoor track and field. 

So what specifically does this have to do with opposition?  The better question is, where was there not opposition during my athletic career?  To begin with, I am not built for athletics.  I'm small, and anything but strong inside and out.  My ligaments in my shoulders, knees, and hips are too loose as well as double-jointed. There was not a track season I did not tear or strain my hamstring.  I never played a season of volleyball where I did not visit the chiropractor once a week for my back and shoulder.                                

                                                                                

 Not only do I struggle to maintain my health physically, I often allowed the stress of whatever season I was in, to weigh heavily on my mental health.  I am my biggest critic, and therefore, constantly caused myself undo stress from the pressure I felt to perform.  my 100 percent was never good enough in my own eyes.  I never ran fast enough, jumped far enough, or hit hard enough.  Because of that fact I never allowed myself to feel good enough. It was all in my head

< notice the taping of my hamstring, and the nervous way I'm holding my stomach

So what did I learn from this?  I'm still learning it.  What I do know is yes, there is opposition in all things, but it should never hinder you or how you feel about yourself.  I still suffer from effects of those injuries, and I still struggle with accepting my very best.  But what I do know is that I'm working on it.  I am no longer my greatest opposition 

The Power Behind.

"By words we learn thoughts,

and by thoughts we learn life"

-Jean Baptiste Girard

We use a variety of words single every day.  Regardless of the language we are using our words fill the majority of the time we spend awake each day.  Because of this, I feel we take our languages for granted. 

The words we use, tend to determine our thoughts and like the wise Jean Baptiste Girard implied here, our thoughts then have a enormous effect on the lives we choose to lead.

It is impossible to list all the objects, memories, ideas, and thoughts that accompany a single word and that facinates me.  Within this blog, I plan to examine what single words mean to my life.  By doing so, just maybe I'll gain some appreciation for what these words mean to me and possibly discover what direction my own life is headed.