Love Yourself

2:30 am - I get a text message from a friend. (Paraphrasing) -Ashley, I'm tired of being hurt and used. I am tired of being alone. I am tired of not being loved. I am shutting down. I give up. The reality is, no one is coming. I don't like me.
Wow ...
Sleepily, I offered a word of encouragment. I told her that in order for someone else to love her, she has to first love herself. I think that sounded good at 2 am. I also know that when someone is upset about something, my brilliant words :-) probably don't mean a lot. I assured her she wasn't the only one who was feeling the way that she was feeling.
As I snuggled up with my comforter, I said a short prayer-like thing asking God to keep her encouraged so that she can love herself.
6:00 am - I hear Billy Ocean singing to me (Caribbean Queen is my ringtone). I look at the clock then look at the phone and I figure I better answer. It's another friend. Immediately I panic.(Early morning calls often mean something bad has happened.)
She starts the conversation very calmly, but soon thereafter the tears start to flow. She was feeling very discouraged about the way things in her life are going. Especially in the love department. She said she felt as if "he" would never come. She was tired.
Understanding completely how she feels, I try to encourage her not to give up. Somehow I remind her that she to love herself before anyone can love her.
I'm single. I have friends. Every now and then I have a date. I participate in some social activities here and there. I get lonely. I get sad. I desire a connection with someone. I want to give up. And sometimes when I look in the mirror, I hate what I see. Not so much my physical appearance, but all the mess that is going on in my life. But what I can't forget is that no matter how messy and ugly and terrible I am to myself, God finds me to be one of His beautiful creatures.
I have to love myself through all my mess. And even if I don't like what I see, I still have to love myself. I have to love myself to know what it's time to "fix" me.
So ladies, gentleman, boys, girls, dogs, cats, horses, llamas, and turtles .... even when you feel your worst, you must LOVE yourself!

Wisdom 924

I like to consider myself an intelligent person. I also know I have things to learn. I have picked up a few "lessons" today that I thought I would share.
1. When closing your eyes "for a few minutes", set an alarm
2. Don't go to sleep with food in the oven. Chances are when it comes out, it will be burnt.
3. Walk the dog
4. Drink water
5. Clean your dwelling space
6. Energy drinks are great, but at some point you have to come down
7. Prepare yourself for the next day the night before. (Did that make sense?)
8. If you want to make 2 deviled eggs, you can do it.
9. Don't spend all day on Twitter, Facebook, yahoo messenger, gmail chat, AIM, and texting and expect to finish your work.
10. Recogni2 at 31, taking an evening nap might as well be called going to bed. You're not going to get up and go out, watch TV, go to the gym, etc. Your tired behind is going to bed. And if you sleep for a long time, don't panic. Your body probably needed it. That's why it happened.

That is all

I was chatting with lady in the break room while heating up my lunch. She said, "It's amazing how I get impatient having to wait 3 minutes for my food to heat up. I remember when we heated everything in the oven and it took half an hour." I chuckled because I too remember that time. Certainly I was a young person (younger than 5 years old), but I do remember. In fact, it was Christmas, 1982 when we got our first microwave. I know this because my brother was an infant. I also got a pink motorcyle that year.
Anyway, we chatted some more about TV Antennas on the roof, VCRs with corded remotes and other antiquated technological treasures. It made me think of how far we have come.
My nephew is almost 12. He has always had a microwave, cable and CDs. Rap music has always been mainstream and a TV show containing curse words is not completely off limits. Someone in our family always had a cell phone. Things have truly changed from when I was a child.
I wonder what life will be for my children.