All in How You See It...

Looking into your past is like re-reading a novel. The story doesn't change, but the perspective can.

Pay It Forward

Do one good deed for another and watch as the kindness

trickles through the cracks of our heart

to fill it with satisfying joy.

The simplest things mean so much more when it is not anticipated. When you are happy, it can radiate to others around you. Today, I watched as the random acts of kindness shown to a stranger become a domino affect to those who directly receive it and those who witness it from a distance. An older woman held open the door for me. As I did the same for the boy behind me, he thanked me and walked down a different sidewalk. I strolled to my car across the parking lot and a man stopped his car to wave me along. Then, I drove my car slowly through a busy lot, motioned for a car to squeeze in line and she thanked me with a smile. And last but faithfully not least, a group of people passed in front of my car and just before the crosswalk cleared a little girl paused to wave enthusiastically at me for letting her pass safely. It warmed my heart. All this in five minutes. Imagine if you had a whole day or even a lifetime to pay it forward.

Life is Full of Lemons. What Will You Make of It?

I was watching a foreign movie on the Sundance Channel, called 'The Lemon Tree', and 5 minutes of a scene sparked a thought. Though subtitles scrolled across the bottom of the screen, they were not necessary to understand the characters and I didn't read them anyways. It's not like I chose this artistically, I was just lazy. But it was effortless to feel the simple human emotion and to see the uniqueness that perspectives portray. Two people look up at a lemon tree under the same shining light. One sees fruit, prosperity, and a livelihood while the other sees it blocking the view of the vast blue sky.

Such is the metaphor for life. Do you appreciate what you have now? OR... Do you look to the future and think that tomorrow always could be better than today? You and I will look at the same object, then paint it differently. You and I will listen to the same song, then sing it in a moment for a different meaning. You and I will meet the same person, then interpret that interaction as seen through our own eyes.

If this post provokes you to think, then its randomness has served its purpose. So, I will leave you with this question. When life gives you what you did not ask for, what will you make of it?

The Year of New

This new year is very symbolic of the start of the new chapter in my life. A lot of things have changed since my last, long ago, passage. There hasn't been notable, rather enough positive change in my life to write about it before today. But before I go on, let's be honest. Who really reads this but my sister? So, Bridg this is how you can stay connected to me and my living single escapades.

I am 23 and this year is all about me. This is my new motto for 2011.
"Always do what you are afraid to do." ~Emerson

I will not hold back. Odds are situations are not nearly as difficult or scary as I imagine them to be. And this motto went into full affect around 1am new year's day (Day #1). I finally built up enough courage (booze helped) to talk to the most handsome guy at the party, a friend throughout college, and to do what I have been wanting to do for 4 years. When I clued him in on my intentions, he said "You should have said something sooner." The party doesn't always have to end for Cinderella when the clock strikes 12 and I got my kiss. I probably will never see him again, but that's kinda the point. Do something in the moment without fear or expectation. I will not write a number of resolutions that I most likely will not cross off of the list. Instead, I am changing my attitude and perspective on how I approach situations. I choose to live in the present moment and enjoy today with my family and friends.

Letter to Me @ 16

It’s me. Well, it’s you at 22. I have learned so much about you in these six years. Right now, you may not feel comfortable about the person you are. I am still getting to know you and appreciating even more the person you are at 16. I realize that self-discovery is a life long journey. Not knowing the future can be scary and stressful, yet you have no idea of this at your tender naïve age. If you knew then what I know now, life would still be unpredictable. When you are reading this you have no clue of how amazing this world is. All you think you know in your inexperienced 16 year-old mind is a second in time compared to what you realize this life is about. Life is about the people and the relationships you develop. You will struggle with keeping in touch with friends. You tend to be out of sight, out of mind. Remember the wonderful feeling of a friend calling you on an ordinary day just to check in and say they are thinking of you. As I write this, I am reminded of a list of people to call.

You have a blissful absentmindedness about negativity in this world. You don’t like drama and therefore your life is simple and enjoyable. The stress comes in your head and sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. You have so many wonderful qualities that you haven’t learned to be thankful for yet. Your smile is inviting. You love to laugh and have mom’s sarcasm. It can be jaw dropping how similar you two become. She is your best friend. You are sweet. You are interested in what people have to say and think that every word is important. You would like to believe the words that people say are honest. However, you sometimes doubt compliments and think people are feeding you a spoonful of horseshit. Accept them as truths; you deserve these kind words. Give them back. I challenge you to be the first to give someone the gift of a compliment. You love for others to be happy and feel beautiful because you want that for yourself.

You are beautiful. Don’t sell yourself short on your beauty; embrace it with humility. Part of your appeal and what attracts other people to you is that you are comfortable in your skin. This wasn’t the case at 16. You always compared yourself to other girls. You convinced yourself that they were more gorgeous. You were self-conscious about your stomach and the imaginary rolls that appeared over your jeans when you sat. You didn’t have them then, but you have them now. And you feel strangely comfortable in your non-perfect body.

Warning, don’t let yourself go and think that eating while watching tv all day will somehow keep your muscles toned. I tried it and this is not the case. On a side note, stop watching television. There is too much life to be lived by you. You waste the chance as you sit on your lazy ars. Like everything in life you have to work at it. You have an adventurous spirit that you are beginning to tap into. You love the outdoors, but you rarely took the opportunities to do fun, out of the ordinary things. You have to make the plans, include friends and introduce them to the excitement of life.

So a few lessons you will learn...
1. People come into your life for a reason. Enjoy their presence and learn from their absence.
2. Life is sweeter than you can ever imagine. God has a greater plan for you and most we haven't lived yet.
3. Your family is the back bone to who you are. Everyone of us will have our moments of hard times, and we will rally next to each other and love one another more.
4. You will truly believe that God loves you and it is the most rewarding Love. Accepting that you deserve love, allows you to drop the weight of expectations off your shoulders.


Joey, thanks for the idea. Here are some memorable quotes from the beautiful women who wrote letters to their 16 year-old selves...

JOEY: "But what's always true in life is that all the grace and the wisdom we need to get through something, we don't have until it's over. And the reason we don't have it until afterward is because it's the process itself that grows us up into it."

ALISHA: "Don't let your life and your actions ever be in reaction to something else. Don't be afraid of being "normal" because you crave the attention of being exceptional. I'm not saying don't be exceptional, I'm saying don't crave needing to be recognized for it."

BRIDGET: "Stop stressing about the future because no matter what you envision as your future it will not turn out how you imagined, but more than you could ever ask for."

18 year-old BLOGGER: "When the time comes to meet the man of your dreams, it will happen in the most random place. You have way more to give than you realize. But you can’t meet him until you love yourself. Take your time doing this."

Crisis at 22.. not really though

I thought a mid-life crisis happens when you turn 50 or so. Nope. I guess it can happen anytime you go through a big change in life and you don't know if you're playing your cards right. It's like 52 card pick-up. Everything is scattered around me and I don't know what to deal with first. I graduated and have been done college for a while now it seems. I've been enjoying my summer at the beach, cool evening runs, cooking meals with fresh picked ingredients, reuniting with friends, and enjoying family. But my see what the day brings attitude makes me feel pathetic. I realize I need structure in my life; a day planned with goals to be accomplished. So what now? How do I take charge of my life and make things happen? It could be simple, but I dread making the decisions on my own, which again is pathetic. I don't like the way I am passively living my life now. I am young and should be enjoying the freedom I've been granted. I need to be my own person and embrace this part of my life. I want to have fun!

Things I want to do this year.....
get a job (OT with temporary license, possibly?)
pass my OTR exam
run a half marathon
rock climb
get back to my pre-college weight
save money
buy a camera and not lose it
rent a house or apt

One year from today, I will have checked off everything thing on this list. This is my promise. The only thing in my way is ME.

Hold on to Good Friends

The distance from Pittsburgh to Rockville is 226.58 miles. I have driven this route countlessly for 4years. I have it down to a science to arrive in my driveway in exactly 3hrs and 30min. I know when to speed, when to look for cops, when to leap frog cars, and all the while drumming on my steering wheel and singing to some tunes. But you know when you doze off; you're still awake, but you don't remember driving the last 10miles. That's what today feels like. Somehow I snapped back to reality and my college years are finished and I don't know how I got here so fast.

I left my friends and my home away from home. I wasn't expecting to be emotional or tearful about this goodbye. But as I drove outside the city limits and could no longer see the sky rises or bridges in my rear view mirror, that's exactly what happened. I am really going to miss the Burgh, especially my closest friends. I don't think I will find another group of girls as ridiculous, fun-loving, and genuine as them and I don't want to. I am truly going to miss it all.