Growth

As this year and 2018 comes to an end I want talk about something important. I know that I have talked about something similar in my post “Growing Up,” but as much as the subjects are close similar they are different. We all experience growth at some point, right? Growth is not always sunshine and rainbows because sometimes growth can be just downright painful. It is not just growth, but personal growth. “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere we don’t belong.” Yes, things in life are painful as I said, but nothing is worse than staying somewhere you do not belong. That is why growth is so important.

Growth is something that is not easy because it can be downright scary and it sometimes take a lot of reflection. You have to think for yourself, especially for something like personal growth. There is this quote I found that is essential to personal growth. “Sometimes personal growth is going to cost you friends, relationships, jobs and material things. Don’t ever stop growing or put your dreams and aspirations on hold in order to keep people and things in your life. It’s not selfish to put yourself and your happiness first, keep growing.” In other words, you cannot let certain people or things keep you from growing and that is especially important, especially in a relationship. I think a part of being in a relationship is growing and building together. That is one piece of advice my mom gave me at one point. She pretty much said you cannot be with someone if they do not help you grow and flourish. If it means cutting off those certain people or things and walking away, so be it. Which is pretty much similar to another quote I have come to love. “The woman you’re becoming will cost you people, relationships, spaces and material things. Choose her over everything.” That quote is a lot like the one I already posted. It is pretty much saying to choose the woman and person you are becoming over everything else.

All that being said… I just want to say that 2018 has been a year of growth. I had to walk away from at least a few situations that were not the best ones to be in and I learned so much. That is another thing about growth… you can definitely learn something from it and it is a process. Here is another quote. “Growth is a process. You gain, you lose, you cry, you grow, you learn, you try, you fail, but you keep trying.” I feel like if you are not growing you are not learning and vice versa. So here is to my readers and my last post of 2018. May you never be afraid of growth because it is just simply another part of life. The good thing is that growth helps you mature and find better things out there. You truly never stop growing or learning. Happy (early) New Year and 2019!! May you all have a happy and healthy start to the new year. And since it is the end of another year I am going to include another quote to end the year on a good note. “If you know me based on who I was a year ago, you don’t know me at all. My growth game is strong. Allow me to reintroduce myself.” Cheers and enjoy these two poems. The other poem is what I resolve to do in 2019 and the new year. Happy reading!!

When Thing Grow – A Villanelle

Make room for things to grow
And mend in your heart cavity.
You have to plant and sow

Your roots. You always know
To stand tall, letting gravity
Make room for things to grow

Into a garden. No sign of a crow,
Signaling your end of depravity.
You have to plant and sow

All of your seeds. You show
Your speed and concavity.
Make room for things to grow

And twist into balls of dough,
With elasticity of your morality.
You have to plant and sow

For everything that will glow
And shine like your reality.
Make room for things to grow.
You have to plant and sow.

2019 New Year’s Resolutions

With 2019 just around the corner I resolve to be loving myself
And be selfish because my love for others is on the high shelf,
Just out of reach. I resolve to be kind to my mind, body and
Gentle soul. I resolve to be patient because I fully understand
That time is precious. I resolve to live every day to the fullest
With sunshine and laughter. I resolve to never let the dullest
Of moments fade away into nothingness. I resolve to let all
The bad memories go and to hang onto the good ones. I fall
But then to get back up and keep going. Life is a battlefield
And I resolve to walk through the fire. I resolve to be healed.

Beginning of Autumn/Fall

Hi everyone. We are halfway through October and I know it has been a while since I posted. Fall is definitely upon us and there are so many things to like about fall like the leaves changing or the change in weather. Whatever it is, I can think of very few reasons to not like fall or maybe I am just biased because it is definitely one of my favorite seasons. The one thing I do not like is the days getting shorter. It is a way to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall/autumn. Here is a quote about fall that I have come to really like. “Autumn paints in colors summer has never seen.” I think that is why autumn is one of my favorite seasons. We get these vivid colors like orange and red, which is different than summer. So I wish my readers a happy fall/autumn. Stay warm and toasty, my friends!! Happy reading.

Having Patience

Yes, we all go through changes (look on my blog post about that topic if you do not believe me), but a lot of the time we go through major changes and it takes time/patience to get through those major changes. Demi puts it this way. “Have patience. Even the greatest changes in our lives to occur.” Having patience (especially a lot of it) is a life lesson we could (including myself) all use. To be honest, I struggle with having patience, especially with people and things I truly care about. I am sure that everybody has a similar story to the one I am about to tell. Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays growing up (in fact it still is). I would always get so excited and wake up early to open up my presents.

My patience also runs a little thin with people too. For example, there is this person I am dealing with (I will not name anybody specifically). Let us call this person K. I want to meet up with that person so badly, but it has not worked out and I have expressed my concern. This person told me to be patient with them. I am trying my best, but I told this person that they have to be patient with me (especially since I know that I am one of those people who loses their patience pretty easily most of the time). Patience in a sense is like what I call the waiting game… You have to be patient almost all the time. When you are waiting on the phone, waiting in traffic, waiting around for something to happen or for someone to show up, etc.

My point to all of this is the importance of having patience, waiting and not rushing into things. The automatic thing that we all do is to rush when there is no point in doing so. I found the perfect quote to tie it all together. “We often want it so badly that we ruin it before it begins. Over-thinking. Fantasizing. Imagining. Expecting. Worrying. Doubting. Just let it evolve naturally.” In other words, just let it all happen the way it is supposed to (no matter if it changes from your original plans). So in other words be patient with people because you never know what they have dealt with or what they are dealing with right now. They are trying to sort out their life and so are you. Whatever you do, do not lose hope or take your frustration out on people (who may or may not deserve it). In other words, hang in there and ride it out. You have to realize that some things (or people) are worth the wait and some are not. That is just the way it goes.

The Waiting Game

The seconds are ticking by,

Then the minutes, and

Then the hours go by.

Who am I waiting for?

What I am waiting for?

Am I waiting for you?

Am I waiting for me?

Am I waiting for us?

Confusion. Anger.

Chaos.  Sadness.

Happiness. Guilt.

What am I feeling?

What should I be feeing?

 

More Time

You are not trying to push me,
But all you are asking for is a little bit
Of patience. You wanted to see

If I could hang on. I do not want to slit
My wrists without knowing what
This feels like. This life will not sit

Down and take a rest. This cut
Of the thread that holds us together
Cannot break anymore. I know that

I cannot let you float away like a feather
Or sink down like a heavy rock. We promised
Ourselves to get through this bad weather

No matter what. If we cannot be honest
With one another then we cannot
Deserve and feel the calmness

Washing over us like a wave. This shot
To the heavens cannot destroy this
Inner turmoil and fire. You caught

My heart and will not let go. The bliss
In our eyes will not be let go of. I
Wish that I would never have to miss

Some of these moments, but I have to lie
To myself for a little bit in order to survive
Through the chaos of life. To cry

Over the situation we have to live
Through is hard, but as long as you
Promise me that we will make it and thrive

Everything should be okay. The two
Of us should be able to handle this united.
It has to be us that will push through

Every battle. This is our own lighted
Path filled with obstacles and challenges.
This is our endless support that is unrequited.

The People We Used to Be Vs. The People We Are Now

I know that I have talked about making changes. Here, I want to talk about that, but it is slightly different this time around. This time I am talking about people who change. I have been doing a lot of self reflection these days (I am not sure if it is because Demi talked about it in her book or that I have just been thinking about it a lot). One of the things I have been thinking about is how I have changed from the person I used to be to the person that I am now in the present moment. It does not matter if I have changed from a year ago, a month ago, even last week. The point is that I am noticing the changes in myself and I know that some people are probably noticing as well (although it should not matter because I have said before, it is about me not them). I have gone through things that have changed me as a person. I know some of those things can be characterized as “bad” or “negative,” but some of those things turned out to be good and positive.

I am making these changes on a constant basis (and I am still going through changes to this very day). I am turning from the person I used to be to the person that I am now. Other people are going through the same thing as well. In a sense, we are saying goodbye to the person we used to be and saying hello to the new us. That does not mean we should totally forget about the people we used to be (after all, they can still teach us valuable lessons). It just means we are improving to be better human beings. So do not let others judge you for the person you used to be (I am trying to do the same thing). Like I have said before, they do not always know the real you (they just think they do). I will also say (as a reminder) that if you do change, remember to make those changes for yourself and not for others.

This poem is written about myself (and the person I used to be), but I know that others can relate to this subject topic as well. Hang in there because I know that we have all had (or still have) bad days or darkness come into our lives. I have to admit that I have been through those dark and bad days (I am not spilling all my deep and dark secrets though because they are next to my heart). As Demi said in her book, celebrate and embrace those changes (she also says to reflect on how you have changed over the course of the year). I have always said (and I will say the same thing to others) that we are still living. I also remember someone saying to always put one foot in front of the other. This poem is for my readers and to remind them that we are not always the same person we used to be. Cheers!!

Who I Used To Be

I used to be a dreamer,

Thinking about the

Daunting future.

I used to wonder what it

Would be like to sleep with

The moon and the stars

Late at night. Do not tell them

My secrets, the ones I keep close.

They are the one I will have

Until I die. Do not tell them that

I keep things to myself as

I feel like nobody will believe me.

Do not tell them it feels like

I have seen better days.

All they see is the spring in

My steps and my voice full

Of merriment. They do not know

That it feels like I am drowning

In complete darkness. They do

Not need to know that I struggle

To let the light in. They do not

Need to know that I used to be

A seeker, who would go after

Everything and anything

That made me feel

Less alone in this world.

Do not tell them that I used

To be afraid of having nobody.

They do not need to know

That I used to hold on tight

And count until the breathing

Became easier. They do not

Need to know that I used to

Feel like I was suffocating.

All they need to know is that

I am trying to be a better person

Because of all of that. They should

Know that I am above all of that.

They should pay no attention to

The person I used to be before

Things were going good.

Changes

Hey everybody, I am back. Sorry… I have just been dealing with 101 million things on my plate these days. I wanted to talk about changes because I know we all have changes in our life, whether it is moving to a new place or going from one thing to another. Whatever that change is, it does not always have to be bad. Those changes could be big or they can be small. When I think of changes I think of something like transitions because changes and transitions are very similar to one another.

Demi says “Courage to change” in her book and that is so true. It does take courage to change because change, like everything else is sometimes very scary. When you make a change it can be exhilarating and makes you feel free. So go ahead and make changes. It does not matter if it is changing your hair, your style, your eating habits or moving to a new place to get a change of scenery, getting rid of people or having more people in your life. I do not want to dwell too much on the previous year (2015) too much because one of my mottos is to not dwell on the past. However, 2015 has brought me a lot of changes. Here is to hoping 2016 will do the same. Do not make those changes to be like someone else because you are unique and beautiful just the way you are. My poem points out that change is sometimes difficult, but it is worth it in the end. Just remember that too.

Changing Over Time

Sometimes people change

Slowly over time and

Other times they change

Right away in front of you.

You change too. When you

Look in the mirror and

Realize that you’re

Different too. You’re not

A little caterpillar, but

A butterfly spreading your

Wings and learning to fly.

You’ve developed and have

Made changed.

You’re a beautiful and

Majestic creature, but

The changes were often

Difficult and hard.

You make your own

Decisions and choices

In life.