Flat-lining

      I watched New Year’s Eve the other night. While lacking in substance, one of my favorite lines in the movie:

“What would you do today if you knew you wouldn’t fail? Now go do that.”

That is something to think about. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “what ifs” and not take a chance on anything.

The twins I babysit on occasion were playing outside the other day. One of them fell down. As he laid there our conversation went something like this:

“What do you do when you fall down?” asks E

“I fell down!” said R

“R, when you fall down you get up stronger than before!” says E with energy, holding up her arms in victory pose.

R stands up.

“So what do you say?”

With some coaxing he says, “when I fall down I get up stronger than before!” complete with victory pose.

A new day always dawns regardless. Life never promises to always be easy and if it were, would we appreciate it?

Dear L-

Life was really simple and then somewhere down the road it changed. The slow sinking in of reality and the taking of responsibility began to represent the loss of youth and innocence. It’s the little setbacks and how they were handled that helped to shaped the person you are today. Right now I know you’re asking the question why. Dear L, don’t be afraid to open yourself and feel right now. DO it because it is hard. Don’t hold it inside, you find a way to let it out even if it’s tough. Because how you feel when you do let it out is how you’re feeling inside right now. Just because you ignore it doesn’t mean it isn’t still there affecting your outlook on life.  

Take an ECG machine for example which represents the rhythm of your heart. Up and down, up and down. Imagine that up and down representing your life – You’re feeling great about your life when it’s up and you’re feeling down about your life when it’s down. But imagine flatlining and feeling nothing. Life is meant to be lived and felt.

Time heals everything and I know you’ll pick yourself up and be stronger for it. Cause that’s just who you are.

Yours truly,

Xoxo,

Em

The Eyes are the Window to the Soul

The eyes are the window to the soul and intrinsically I think I can understand you at that level. What if the moment we woke up instead of thinking about our day and ourselves we asked the simple question of “what am I going to do to help someone else today?” Often, the shoes or videogame we absolutely had to have NOW – is forgotten 2 months later. 

In a Starbuck, a few years ago, I made eye contact with a middle aged blonde woman standing in line to order her coffee. She smiled the biggest chance smile I’ve ever seen. Not one of those ‘’oh no! we just made eye contact!” Quick smile, look away.  No, she made direct eye contact and smiled beautifully. I’ve never forgotten the simple act of a smile.

How many times a day do we close our eyes and ignore something we CAN give? Something that would take only 5 minutes. 5 minutes of your time could make a difference in someone else’s life. Sometimes it is as simple as a 3 second smile- but other times it is not that simple. 

Because the truth is, even taking 5 minutes to help someone if it is out of your way is something people won’t often do. Now take a decision that involves you sacrificing something so important to you (example, changing your lifestyle etc...) for someone else. How often does THAT happen? We see broken people everywhere in our lives but do we care? Do we care at all?? Do we care enough to let go of ourselves and do something? Or are we content to only think about ourselves and our happiness? The definition of selfish according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary is:

1: Concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others.

Dear R-

You have people in your life who love you so much. But it’s not enough, is it? I know what you really want and it makes me so sad because it’s impossible for me to give you that. I will always be there for you though. <3

Yours truly,

Xoxo,

Em

This is SO worth watching:

A Letter to Myself

Dear Current Blues,

Rona- I miss you so much right now. And knowing you are returning to Europe and I’m stuck here in America breaks my heart.

Hanna- I miss hearing your Finnish accent and all your amazing stories. You inspire me to do crazy things.  Love you so much!

Anne-Lise, Mischa, Csenge, Princess, Milda, Rebekka,  Linda, Marie-Eve,  and everyone else who made my DK stay unforgettable- you all are amazing and I want to see you soon!

God- I think it’s so amazing how you planned everything and how you know absolutely everything. Even when life doesn't seem to be going well I can trust in you completely. My prayer right now is that you increase my faith where it’s lacking.

My Family- I’m so thankful for you all. I've been rediscovering how fabulous it is to spend time with everyone and become reacquainted. Megan, it’s so great to see you again!

Emily - by the time tomorrow rolls around you are aren't allowed to feel blue anymore.

Yours Truly,

Xoxo,

Em

Luther Vandross

Germany’s 2010 Love Parade Festival ended in 15-20 deaths and many injuries when one of the only exits was closed up. People became irritated with the slowness of the crowd and a stampede of people was the result. How would you like to go to a parade festival with one million other people and witness that? Not really.

I was listening to a duet by Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross today. Luther Vandross is an amazing singer. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 54 from a heart attack. When you’re 20 it’s scary to think of 27 being half of one’s life. I had a conversation the other day with a lady I work with. She was talking about how she came to work in finance. She achieved her career dream, became VP of a company, had kids, money, and she wasn’t happy.

~Dance with my Father by Luther Vandross~ Chances are, you've most likely heard this song before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLuP-4ZEhOE

My life is highly compartmentalized. I have school in one compartment, work in another, family in another, and so on. I find myself giving everything to my school and work, and what is leftover I give to my family. After that there’s nothing left. It get’s to the point where you almost make yourself believe “if I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.” But there are some things at the back of your mind that you can’t forget. And it’s always “when I’m not so busy I’ll get to it.” In retrospect, I can’t think of many times where life has ever slowed down since I was 17 and started working full time.

It’s really all about finding balance. My pastor once gave a description of how it should look when Jesus is at the center of everything you do. He gave the illustration of an ole wagon wheel. The center should be Jesus and all the spokes coming out is what you have going on in your life. Beyond keeping Jesus at the center, you have to take advantage of the moments that cross your path. If you have an opportunity, don’t wait for tomorrow.

When I was back in Washington, there were a few people I had on my mind that I wanted to spend more time with. I was busy with school and work and didn’t make time. And now I’m miles away and there is no way I could do what I tossed around in my mind a month ago.

I know this is old news but Darth Vader robbed a Chase bank. And as far as bank robberies go I think that was brilliant. Next time we’ll be hearing about Mickey Mouse’s big bank robbing debut.
 
And that’s Emily reporting to you live from HB, California