A girl quickly punches a number into her phone and waits until she hears the other line pick up.

“Becky, I don’t know what to do, I really don’t. I love him so much and I don’t think he thinks of me that way. I mean, whenever I see him or think of him, I can’t help it, this smile comes across my face. Sometimes he sees me smiling and smiles back. That’s when my knees turn to jello and I get butterflies in my stomach. I know you think that he’s so totally adorable and cute, but if you look past that and actually listen to what he has to say, you find a totally different person. He’s so caring and considerate and he makes me feel like I don’t deserve him. Well, actually, I don’t deserve him. He’s too perfect, I mean, look at all the girls that fall for him. I could never be one of those. They’re all so pretty and bubbly and….. not me. I couldn’t even start to compare myself to them. But whenever I think of him or see him, I can’t help it, I smile. Now I didn’t tell you this but he called me the other day about homework. I tell you now, I made a complete fool of myself. I’m so embarrassed. I stuttered the whole time, but he was so sweet and just kept talking and making me feel better. He’s so perfect Becky, I don’t deserve him, so why do I keep wishing and praying that he will notice me, why?…………Becky? Becky are you there?”

“This isn’t Becky.”

Petrified the girl asks, “Then who is this?”

“This is the guy who’s smile turns your knees to jello and I just wanted to say one thing. Everything you just said now, I’ve been wanting to say since the day I met you.”

A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out.

A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there.”

An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”

A Christian Scientist came along and said, “You only think you’re in the pit.”

A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into a pit.”

Confucius said, “If you would have listened to me you wouldn’t be in that pit.”

Buddha said, “You’re pit is only a state of mind.”

A realist said, “That’s a pit.”

A scientist calculated the pressure necessary, pounds and square inches, to get him out of the pit.

A geologist told him to appreciate and study the rock strata.

An evolutionist said, “You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle, in other words he is going to die in the pit so he can’t produce any more pit falling offspring.”

The country inspector said, “Did you have a permit to dig that pit?”

A professor gave him a lecture on the elementary principles of the pit.

A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit.”

An optimist said, “Things could get worse.”

A pessimist said, “Things are going to get worse.”

Jesus saw the man in the pit, took him by the hand and lifted him out.

The important thing is not to be bitter over life’s difficulties. Learn to let go of the past, recognize that everyday won’t be sunny and when you find yourself lost in darkness and despair, remember, it’s only in the black of night that you can see the stars and those stars will lead you back home. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes, to stumble, to fall… because most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing things that scare you the most.

Sunday morning waking up and touching you
You’re always warm at 9am
Pillows close and I can feel you wanting me
Then I’d go back to sleep again

I didn’t mean to love you
And I never meant to care
But I guess I never noticed
Just how often you were there

Walking on and talking ’till the sun went down
You kept me warm with just your eyes
Seems that all we wanted just came naturally
We never even had to try

I didn’t mean to love you
Didn’t want to let it show
No, I never meant to tell you
I’m just too proud to let you know

Bring back the days when we could talk away our troubles
Don’t tell me things have changed so much
Please take the time you know it’s not so hard to do
Unless there’s nothing left to say
I guess there’s nothing left to say

I didn’t mean to love you
But I guess I always will
Guess you’ll always be inside me
Kind of warm and soft and still
I didn’t mean to need you, and I didn’t wanna cry
I never meant to lose you
I never meant goodbye…

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I once participated in a small workshop on public speaking. Each of us was presented with the goal of deeply connecting with all eight attendees. We were to speak from the heart on a specific topic, and the audience was to connect back with the speaker. And while the workshop was indeed interesting, what really grabbed my attention was a married couple who also participated in it. These two demonstrated the type of love connection we all deserve.

Both the husband and wife made a definite connection with everyone in the room when it was their individual turn to speak. As the husband began his speech, he looked at his wife in the audience and magic happened. His eyes darkened. They filled with a mixture of profound love, passion and gratitude for her. He breathed deeper. He stood straighter. He became even more present.

It was as though the admiration and love he saw in his wife’s eyes fed him the strength and permission to be more present; as if she saw him and accepted him so completely that acceptance from everyone else was a given.

When it was his wife’s turn to speak, the same thing happened between them. This time, he fed her with acceptance and delight in her. And she in turn, having the permission, could be fully herself in front of a group of strangers.

These two were ordinary people, both young, perhaps in their early 30’s. She is a stay-at-home mom with a 2-year-old. He is a working professional. But the love, connection and acceptance between them is nothing ordinary.

What they have is true love. Not the passion that ignites at first sight and hurls two people into the drama of a shaky relationship. Not the comfort of some couples, having been together for many years, no longer seeing or caring much about each other. Not the thrill of two people having an affair behind their partners’ backs. This couple is truly in love.

Theirs is a love that accepts unconditionally and transforms each one to be more powerful and alive than before. Theirs is a love that encourages growth in each other, through which both evolve. Theirs is a love that will be remembered in the middle of strife, in the middle of sorrow and in the middle of joy. These two will go deeply emotionally. No words, thoughts or feelings will be left unexpressed. Theirs is a love that will endure.

A relationship like this is rare, but it shouldn’t be. Love, acceptance and passion like this can belong to everyone. What does it take to create such love in your life? It takes the willingness to grow and evolve. It takes the willingness to know yourself. It takes the willingness to ask for what you want and to leave nothing unsaid.

I want and wish this for you. It is your right to experience a connection this deep and this fulfilling. Do everything in your power to make sure your life has a love like this.

by: Rinatta Paries

Infatuation is instant desire, one set of glands calling to another.
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It takes root and grows, one day at a time.

Infatuation is marked by a feeling of insecurity.You are excited and eager, but not genuinely happy. There are nagging doubts, unanswered questions, little bits pieces about your beloved that you would just as soon examine too closely. It might spoil the dream.
Love is the quiet understanding and mature acceptance of imperfection. It is real. It gives you strength and grows beyond you, to bolster your beloved. You are warmed by his presence, even when he is away. Miles do not separate you. You want him near. But near or far, you know he is yours and you can wait.

Infatuation says, “We must get married right away. I can’t risk losing him.”
Love says, “Be patient. He is yours. Plan your future with confidence.”

Infatuation has an element of sexual excitement. Whenever you are in one another’s company you are hoping it will end in intimacy.
Love is the maturation of friendship. You must be friends before you can be lovers.

Infatuation lacks confidence. When he’s away, you wonder if he’s cheating. Sometimes you check.
Love means trust. You are calm, secure, and unthreatened. He feels your trust and it makes him even more trustworthy.

Infatuation might lead you to do things you’ll regret later, but love never will.
Love lifts you up. It makes you look up. It makes you think up. It makes you a better person than you were before.

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there… to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart.

Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity….. all occurs to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart to.

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.

Make every day count.

Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.

Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen.

Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high.

Hold your head up because you have every right to.

Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.

Create your own life and then go out and live it…

• Don’t worry about knowing people, just make yourself worth knowing.
• Be friendly with the folks you know. If it weren’t for them you would be a total stranger.
• Friends are those who speak to you after others don’t.
• The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail and not his tongue.
• The way to have friends is to be willing to lose some arguments.
• Deal with other’s faults as gently as if they were your own.
• A friend is a person who can step on your toes without messing your shine.
• You will never have a friend if you must have one without faults.
• You can make more friends by being interested in them than trying to have them be interested in you.
• A real friend is a person who, when you’ve made a fool of yourself, lets you forget it.
• A friend is a person who listens attentively while you say nothing.
• A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
• A friend is someone who thinks you’re a good egg even though you’re slightly cracked.
• . . . and most importantly, A FRIEND IS A TREASURE!

You meet someone. He’s everything you ever wanted. You fall in love. You get to know each other, and guess what? He loves you too! Sparks are flying, and there’s magic in the air. You get along great, and as time goes by you realize how much you really have fallen for him. It seems nothing could go wrong, you’re both so in love with each other, you share everything together, you’re like an ideal couple, in every sense of the word.

Then it happened. Suddenly, you feel like it’s just not the same anymore. He’s no longer sweet, and thoughtful, and caring. He turned from being the most lovable person to practically a migraine-causing stranger. You wonder what you’ve done to cause such a change. You labor over endless assumptions and analysis just to explain why things aren’t working the way they were between the two of you. You wonder, does he still love me? You pluck up the courage to ask him, but he just shrugs and avoids giving you a definite answer. You feel more frustrated than ever. And yet, his actions are loud and clear, even though he’s not saying it to your face. The love he once had for you, is no longer there.

You try to deny it. You hope. That somehow, maybe… you’re wrong. That perhaps, he still loves you and there’s a perfectly good explanation for the way he’s been acting. You desperately want to believe that things will get better. But you know you’re not happy anymore. You cry yourself to sleep every night, trying to think of ways to save your relationship. Trying to revive a feeling that was once there but has died a natural death, trying to mend something that you know is broken beyond repair. But then you wake up, and the truth is staring you hard in the face, it’s OVER. No matter how much you try to deny it, his chapter in your life has come to an end.

So now comes the painful process of letting go. You know in your heart that you have to, that it’s the right thing to do, but you just can’t! You love him. You need him. So the natural tendency is to hold on. You tell yourself to just hold on… even though you know his heart doesn’t belong to you anymore. You come to a point where you blame yourself for what’s happening. But it’s not your fault. You need to understand that there are certain things in life that you can’t control. They need to happen because God allows them to happen.

It’s hard letting go of someone that we have loved for so long. It’s painful to watch the people we love, walk away from us. But if they want to go, we need to let them go! It’s easier said than done, but then again love is never easy. It hurts like crazy, and it hurts so bad that we feel like we’re about to bleed from so much pain. No one can truly explain how painful it is, without having experienced it themselves. It’s not easy, and it will take time. But know this and trust in this, IT WILL GET BETTER. The age old cliché, “Time heals all wounds“, may sound boring and repetitive, but it’s true. Letting go allows you and your partner to become the people you were meant to be. You can’t control love. You can’t force someone to stay with you, if you know they’re not happy anymore. What you can do is move on. Believe that there’s someone out there who will love you with everything that they have and in the way you deserve to be loved.

If we really and truly love someone, their happiness should mean more to us than our own. It’s called selfless love. So many lovers in the world are put to this kind of test. Ask yourself. How much do you really love him? Do you love him enough to allow him to go where he’s happy, even if it’s no longer with you? Do you love him enough to allow him to be happy without feeling revengeful or bitter? Do you love him enough to let him go?

Letting go doesn’t mean we need to GIVE UP, it just means we need to GIVE IN… give in to the TRUTH, and learn to accept the fact that we may have lost love, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to find it again. Maybe we just needed to love the wrong person first, before we finally love the right one. And when we finally meet the one that’s meant for us, we will know, because nothing and no one can ever take that away from us. Understand this. Only then will we be able to see the beauty of LOVE for what it really is, and appreciate the twist and turns of this journey we call LIFE.

Copyright©2008angel

You I know I’m no beginner, my heart’s been to the wall
I’m a tried and true romantic, who’s seen and done it all
When you walked into my life, suddenly I knew
All the love I had inside, was leading me to you

In my time, I’ve lived and loved so much.
Through each high and low, I let my heart be touched.
In my time, there isn’t much I’ve missed,
I’ve seen love come and go, but heaven knows,
I’ve never loved like this, in my time
After all that I’ve been through, I’m in love with you

I’ve won some and I’ve lost some, but us dreamers don’t complain
We keep reaching out for passion, no matter what the pain
When I looked into your eyes, it all fell into place
I found what I was searching for, shining in your face.

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