The Middle.

"Take each day and make it last, cause you turn around and the future is the past, here and now its all we have, the beginning and the end means so little what matters most is whats in the middle."-Lauren Alania

Lauren Alania's song "The Middle" has really inspired me. Just the first few lyrics I wrote up there to share with you is just a bit of the song that is inspiring. It is so true, take each day and make it last.

Why do we allow our lives to get in lulls? Why do we just go through the motions?

Can we actually follow the advice in the song, can we really take each day and make it last?

I've been inspired because I'm guilty of lulls and going through the motions. I want to live the life that she sings about in the song, the kind of person who makes people smile when they look back they say things about you like, "The simple things were golden you found beauty in every moment"


"The day your born is just a start, your last breath is a question mark the story of your life is in the in between."

Just look at the people you love that you go to be there waiting in the waiting room (or giving labor to them) and think about how happy you were when they were born and you just thought this baby is going to have such a great life I'm going to love them and care for them and teach them.

And think about the people who have impacted your life who God decided He needed more. The people that leave us, either suddenly or we were able to prepare the best we can. We are sad because those people left our lives and we can't hug them or see them, but those people who impacted your life inspired you, they showed you things in life that you want to be, I just look back at the blessings I've had with the great grandparents and grandparents I've had the honor of knowing seeing the way they lived their lives and the life that they built and the families they built were so inspiring. The people that die "too soon" that we love, they tend to be the ones full of life too, the ones who make the most of life and are always so happy and loving, when you look back on their life you smile because they made the most of it.

Really the beginning and the end does mean so little, yes we as a culture find it important to base things on dates and I love birthdays to celebrate and I always think about my loved ones when the anniversaries of their deaths come up, but really the in between is what matters. Birthdays are just numbers in reality, the numbers that don't define us, what define us are the people we are and what we do with our lives. The way we live out the middle.

Take some time (more than you have so graciously have by reading this) and really listen to this song, I bought it on iTunes and I listen to it at least 10 times a day. Its so inspiring.

"The beginning and then end mean so little, what matters most is what's in the middle"

Stay Shining!

Don't ever let anyone have the power to turn off the bright light you have inside of you.

Unfortunately there are people out there who are terribly unhappy with there lives, and these people have a way of trying to bring a happy person down.

I've said before, "hating someone gives them too much credit." What I''ve meant by that is letting an emotion as strong as hate come over you toward another person is allowing that person too close to your life. A person that could drive you to actually hate them is not someone you need to be focusing on at all. Don't let them have the control over you to make you want to hate them. Because hating them is still letting you feel an emotion toward them when the only thing you should feel toward them is nothingness.

 I get sad when I witness someones light getting burned out by a careless person who is taking their anger out and whatever else drives them to be how they are.

What makes people so unhappy, so hurtful and so ungrateful?

Why do we let those people dictate our emotions and allow them to let us dim our lights that have the potential of shining brightly?

I think we should stop giving those people the credit. We shouldn't allow them to turn our lights even slightly dim.

You have a bright light inside of you which shines for the life that you lead, a life full of love and happiness surrounded by many good people. Shine your light for yourself and especially shine it for God. He will take care of the bad guys out there trying to bring people down.

I'm not saying it will be an easy task, some people are very skilled at making somebody else angry or flustered but just try it. Take a deep breath in those situations, smile and try to not let them affect you. Leave it in Gods hands remember He says for us not to "repay evil with evil but to repay evil with good."

Who will be there?

Without hesitation, without reservation you should be there for someone you care about anytime, day or night.

Family, Friends, Significant Other.

I think we get so lost in our priorties we forget about the important things in life, which aren't things at all, they are people. The people in our life that matter, the ones that are there for us.

Think about your last week who called, texted, took time out of their day to see you, Facebooked, Tweeted, got in touch with you. What did you talk about? Did you laugh? Did you cry? Did you share secrets or just talk about the contents of your day??

Now think about the people who contacted you and reached out to you when something bad happened in your life. Is your list bigger or smaller?

Normally we try to rise to an occasion when something bad happens to someone we love, if they lost a loved one, got broken up with, got laid off, or was diagnosed with an illness. We send flowers, write cards, communicate thoughout the week and let them know how much we care by feeding them, hugging them, listening to them, crying with them. But then after the time settles down we tend to let go of the constant communication, we get wrapped up in our own lives and forget to call to check in or ignore the text messages we get.

I have been though what I've considered as tragedies in my life, I've lost grandparents, family members and close friends and I suffered from a broken heart and during those times people I loved stepped up, and I was so grateful, but the times I feel the most grateful are the times when I get randomly texted when everything seems back to normal, or the days I get called or skyped or sent something in the mail. The people who still care when things are going mediocre in my life,when nothing is too exciting or too sad.

Why do we slack when it comes to every day relationships? Why do we leave the ones we love out of our everyday lives? How hard is it to pick up a phone and take five minutes out of your day to call someone once a week or every two weeks? Why do we get so wrapped up in ourselves that we can't make time for the ones who are there for us when we need them most on just an average day?

Take the time today to tell someone you love them, your thankful for them, or just to catch up.

And if someone you know is going through a hard time, be there for them in whatever way you can, and continue to do so after the rain even stops pouring on them.

The only thing we leave behind with the ones we love when we go are the memories we have with them. Would you rather only have memories during the highest of highs and lowest of lows or memories thoughout life, bad, good, and normal.

Just think about it.

Where Anger Leads Me.

Bless those who persecute you, bless and not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you live peaceablly with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves but rather give place to wrath, for it is written "Vengenace is Mine, I will repay" says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head" Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. -Romans 12:14-21

This is the Bible verse I turn to in my times of anger, when I feel like the bad people I know of keep getting away with doing bad things, that everyone sees them as a nice person, and maybe I'm the crazy one who sees otherwise. This verse reminds me, God knows what my enemy is really like, God is telling me that I need to not overcome the evil with evil, but overcome it with good. Man is it hard, you know, to actually take the high road, to turn the other cheek. That we need to pray for those who do us harm, cause us pain and make us hurt, and not wish bad things upon them. We need to be excited for when others are excited and we need to feel for others pain when they are down and crying. We shouldn't think that we are above one another, but we need to be humble in our lives. We need to treat everyone with respect, because we are all human and we should be living peaceably with each other.

Trust and Faith are the two words that come to mind when I think of this verse. We have to trust and have faith in God that He will repay the evil, and He will take care of us. He's our protector, He knows what is best for us. We need to honor him by being kind, compassionate and humble.

So when you are having a heart that is filling up fast with anger and you are writing angry letters, or wanting to punch them square in the jaw, turn to this verse, read it and let it calm you down. Let the verse work in your life, and remember, God has your back:)