Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings lived; Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the others…… including Love. One day it was announced to all of the feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So all the feelings prepared their boats to leave. Love was the only one that stayed. She wanted to preserve the island until the last possible moment.When the island was almost totally under, Love decided it was time to leave. She began looking for someone to ask for help. Just then Richness was passing by in a grand boat. Love asked, “Richness, Can I come with you on your boat?” Richness answered, “I’m sorry, but here is a lot of silver and gold on my boat and there would be no room for you.” Then love decided to ask Vanity for help who was passing in a beautiful vessel. Love cried out, “Vanity, help me please.” I can’t help you”, Vanity said, “You are all wet and will damage my beautiful boat.”

Next, Love saw Sadness passing by. Love said, “Sadness, please let me go with you.” Sadness answered, “Love, I’m sorry, but, I just need to be alone now.” Then, Love saw Happiness. Love cried out, “Happiness, please take me with you.” But happiness was so overjoyed that he didn’t hear Love calling to him. Love began to cry.

Then, she heard a voice say, “Come Love, I will take you with me.” It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his name. When they arrived on land the elder went on his way. Love realized how much she owed the elder.

Love then found knowledge and asked, “Who was it that helped me?” “It was Time”, Knowledge answered. “But why did Time help me when no one else would?”, Love asked. Knowledge smiled and with deep wisdom and sincerity, answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is.”

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed.”

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails. Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”

“I’m on my way,” she said.

She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV’s, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her “6 “most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to bed.”

And he did…without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer…?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL….. (and we can’t die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)

Have you ever experienced getting out of a romantic relationship where you felt as though you were already at the end of your rope, but you were still determined to go on? Sadly, many people unconsciously give a negative answer to this question by denying themselves the right to be happy. While some people see finding someone to love as a “dream come true,” others view it as their “worst nightmare.” For the latter, falling in love is a constant dilemma that puts them in an emotional roller coaster.

People who have loved and lost often become emotionally scarred. They may be haunted by disillusionment because of unrequited love, or they could be traumatized by pain from previous relationships. Their hearts pound with joy when they feel that new love has come along. They consider the possibility of loving and being loved again. Still, they are afraid to welcome the love that knocks on their doors; they are terrified by the possibility of getting hurt again. In doing so, they end up losing the love by timidly refusing it.

People who are brave enough to take the risk do love again, but they sometimes find themselves distraught. They may focus so much on trying to build a perfect relationship that they forget about laying a good foundation. When love comes to find rest in their hearts, they hold on to it, pamper it, try to keep it, and become glad that they have been given a second chance. Still, they cannot forget that since love came to them freely, then that same love could also leave on its own free will; thus they do everything materially or physically possible to keep love from departing. In doing so, they end up losing the love by imprisoning it.

“There’s a time for everyone, if they only learn that the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn.” It is said that time heals all wounds; a wounded heart is no exception. In time, you will find the love that’s meant for you. All you need is the patience and the courage to risk getting hurt again. If you do not try hard enough, you will only deny yourself the chance to become happy again. No one should ever be denied the bliss of love. No matter what the setback, you should keep trying to find the love you’ve always been waiting for, because it’s worth all this constant dilemma.

After living what I felt was a “decent” life, my time on earth came to the end. The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a courthouse. The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table. As I looked around I saw the “prosecutor.” He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Him. As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, “Let us begin.”

The prosecutor rose and said, “My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.” He proceeded to tell of lies I told, things I stole, and in the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank. I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins even I have completely forgotten about. As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know I was guilty of those things, but I did some good in my life - couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’d done? Satan finished with a fury and said, “This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.”

When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward. As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty. I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior.

He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, “Hi, Dad,” then He turned to address the court. “Satan was correct in saying this man sinned, Iwon’t deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wage of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished.” Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, “However, I died on the cross so this person might have eternal life and he accepted Me as his Savior, so he is Mine.”

My Lord continued with, “His name is written in the Book of Life and no one can snatch him from Me. Satan still does not understand yet. This man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.” As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, “There is nothing else that needs to be done. I’ve done it all.”

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips… “This man is free. The penalty for him was already paid in full. Case dismissed.”

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, “I won’t give up, I will win the next one.” I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, “Have you ever lost a case?” Christ lovingly smiled and said, “Everyone that comes to Me and asked Me to represent them, received the same verdict as you, “PAID IN FULL.”

Here we are, afraid of losing what we have all the time, holding on to it so tight that not a soul can touch it. We think by hiding it from the world, it’s hidden and it’s ours. Nothing is. Nothing ever will be. For, nothing ever was.

If you think there is anything that you have, that’s yours, be it money, a house, a job, or a girlfriend… it’s nothing but an illusion. It’ll all disappear… in one blow. One blow, my man.

Here we are, so insecure that we are afraid of re-starting our lives, so we just carry on trying to sort out the current mess. The thought that we should give it all up and just start all over - with nothing - might cross our minds some time, sure, but we get scared and we push away anything that scares us.

There is nothing you can ever achieve or gain that you cannot lose, in a matter of seconds. You have never gained enough to not be able to lose it all, in just a few minutes. What you think is yours, was never yours and will never be yours. Whatever you make here, you leave here. You came naked and you’re going to go back naked.

So what are you afraid of?

Let all be lost. Let them take away everything. As long as you have your heart beating strong, as long as you have your nostrils working fine, as long as the blood flows in your veins, you will live, you will breathe and you can get it all back… again and again. For, if you can do it once, you can damn well do it again. It’s just a game we play - Life.

Author Unknown 

Relationships are hard to handle…… might even seem impossible at times. There will be many fights and many quarrels, many disagreements and many tears…… The easiest thing would be to give up. But if we spent half the energy we use in fighting with each other, and spend that energy in fighting to keep the relationship strong, then that is love. Remember, in a relationship, giving up is not the solution. Disagreements, fights and quarrels will always be there. But you must always fight harder to stay together. Some fights are truly worth fighting!

No matter how hard we deny it, we all want to be loved more than we love. I never believed love could ever be shared equally ’cause one party or the other always ends up giving more. No matter how hard we try to hide it, we all want to be the ones to leave instead of being left behind. The ones who leave forget more easily and get on with their lives faster. I guess the ones who are left behind can either move on, or have only two humiliating choices, to run after the person who left them or wait until they come back.