God has toughened me up over the tears to survive most anything and I am truly thankful for that. Although I have a peace inside my heart, it does not mean I do not struggle just as everyone does with emotions, circumstances, feelings, ambitions and dreams that I hope to make come true. (Key word in that sentence is "hope".) One thing that I have learned that I could not unlearn even if I wanted to, is that you have to take everything that comes your way for what it is and realize that it is part of the journey you are destined to travel. Yes... I believe we all have a destiny, we all have a purpose and for the first time in my 40 years of life, I feel like I am living mine and must say it feels pretty darn amazing despite the struggles that still come my way in life. I know now beyond the shadow of doubt they are there for a reason, a lesson is to be learned, another brick is given to build my castle. Just as soon as I get confused, hurt, angry or sad, I talk myself out of it as quickly as I can by listening to the peace in my heart which always cleanses my negative thoughts and replaces it with hope and reminds me.... "you have been here before, it's going to be okay." So as I sit here on the eve of my 40th birthday tapping my thoughts out so that I can post this hopeful inspiring message by midnight's strike, I am content with all that is happening even if I don't like some of it. I have SO much to be thankful for, I have lived out SO many things in life that many told me I never would and at moments I almost thought they were right; but that didn't stop me and because of that I know that the best is yet to come. I found my original "LIFE GOALS" list a few weeks ago and I was able to check everything off. WOW... it was a shocking surprise to me but I am not a lucky girl... I am simply a girl who is loved.
I want to say thanks to all of you for the continued support, for sharing these blogs with others which has helped me grow to over 33,000 readers; I could NEVER have done that without you. YOU are the inspiration to the one whose mission is to inspire; for without you my only audience would be an empty computer screen ( In that case I would rather watch paint dry.)
The next decade will be amazing because I will do everything I can to make it that way for my family and hopefully even for you. (I have some things up my sleeve, just WAIT!) It is because of that and the big man upstairs who is holding me tight in his arms that I will start today with a smile and end it with peaceful thoughts. I will continue giving of myself, my time and my resources in order to make other people's lives better because that is what makes me happiest. I will never allow the negative things to overcome the positives and always keep that peace in my heart. I am not perfect in my own eyes, I make mistakes every single day but I know there is one set of eyes that sees no flaws in me but merely the road I travel each day leading me to my destiny and that keeps happy in my heart with all that I do and experience even when my exterior shows frustration and pain.
I will end this post with something funny because I am NOT serious all of the time, ANYONE who knows me in person or online knows that and I am feeling a bit too Hallmark right now. I found this a few months ago and decided to save it for this post. Andy Rooney sure was a funny guy!
ANDY ROONEY ON WOMEN OVER
40
"As I grow in age, I
value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:
A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting. Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of his self with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.
A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting. Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of his self with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.
I love you all, thank you for reading and thank you for all of the birthday love.
xoxo
~Shells~
THIS IS 40!
For my birthday all I want is for you to smile, share this in order to make someone else smile and go hug a tree or something ;)
