HopeK429

https://youtu.be/CysyGA9vPgc

https://youtu.be/ffZUCDnSDf4

Here's some truths for ya , You know You can be a really good friend, and still not be liked. You can hold someone dear and still not be valued. You can say all the right things, and still have someone twist your words, brush off your words, or worse—use your words against you. You can give it your absolute best, and still have it not work out. You can be straight-up sunshine in the flesh, and still have dark clouds rain all over ya... You can play your heart out, and still lose the game. You can place the highest bid, and still walk away empty-handed. You can be as good as you can humanly possibly be , and still be painted as the bad guy. After years of work, these are some things I’ve learned: 1. You can’t control other people. Not even in the slightest, and it is a complete waste to ever assume you can. It will make you angry, and exhausted, and chasing something you don’t have a chance to catch, so switch gears and control you. Control your mouth. Control how you treat people. Control your attitude. Guard your heart, and keep it genuine. Keep showing up, and let that be enough. Other people aren’t you. They don’t think like you, or feel like you. Their experiences belong to them alone. They approach situations differently, and their outlook is nothing like yours. Don’t expect them to handle things exactly like you do. They aren’t you. They’re them. Do your best to love them for it any ways, ,Some people are never going to like you, and there isn’t necessarily a rhyme or reason, but I/m betting your life will improve significantly as soon as you learn this. Sometimes you’re actually the bad guy. Sometimes you’re the one acting foolish. Sometimes you’re the one with the toxic trait or two. Check your own heart. Clean out the junk, and grow from it. Apologize, and now that you’ve learned—take that wisdom, do better next time, stay humble, and give others an awful lot of grace along the way, and I finally am learning that there is a purpose to it all. There is beauty everywhere. That failed friendship will teach you how to do the next one better. That heartache will remind you to be gentle with other people. That loneliness will help you appreciate connection when you do find it—and you will find it, don't go looking for it what's meant to be will find you in it's own time.. Not every season lasts forever, but every season does produce something eventually, even if it’s just a fresh perspective and a new way of thinking about things.. Life is a long series of letting some things go and holding others close—a catch and release sort of cycle. Let go of needing approval. Let go of bitterness, and resentment, and any of that other junk we all seem to carry around with us.. Let go of insecurity. Let go of guilt. It will keep you shackled like nothing else ever will do, Fear and guilt are crippling... Hold close to your family and the people in your life who have stuck around. Hold close to your morals and your integrity. Hold close to your light and your joy and your hope. Hold close to today. Believe in tomorrow. Hold closest to love. At the end of the day, it’s all that really matters, and as long as you have it—you have more than enough to survive this crazy world we live in today..

It’s a beautiful thing when we learn to sit with our friends. To sit with them in the muck and the murk and the funk. To sit with them through the trials and the struggles and the hurt. Not to save them (because we aren’t Jesus. We can’t save anyone. Life is going to happen and we can’t be the shield that stops all pain.) Not to be their therapist (because 99% of us aren’t qualified.) Not to receive anything in return (because they probably aren’t in a place where they have much to give.) Not to tell them what to do or where to go or how to feel, but to meet them where they are. To be their safe space and a source of comfort. To ensure that even when the skies get dark, they aren’t sitting there getting pounding by the storm alone. To love them. To walk in when the rest of the world walks out. To hold their hand and offer a shoulder and an encouraging word, and when they ask for it, sound advice. And mostly, to remind them who they are and why they’re here when they’ve forgotten. To believe in them and goodness and hope when they can’t feel the warmth of the sun. So if you want to be there for your friends, don’t worry about finding the right words. There may not be any. Just show up. Authentically. Compassionately. With open arms and an open heart. And sit. It may not seem like much. It may not immediately (or ever) change their mood, or their circumstances, but trust me, it’s enough. Love,
Hope

Mother’s Day is a very emotionally-charged holiday, perhaps even more so than Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day we are all acutely aware of being single — as we’ve all been there at one point in our lives and some of us longer than others for our own reasons...But on Mother’s Day many women suffer in silence, and many don't know the heartache they silently endure.so many women (and some men too) are hiding their pain from the world, Who wonders whether it would have been a boy or a girl. Who dreams of what their face would look like. And prays that she will finally meet her sweet child in heaven someday. There are the children grieving the loss of their own Mother. They might be all grown up, they might have families of their own. But what they wouldn’t give for one more Mother’s Day with their own mom. The “bonus” moms or Step Mothers who feel more like forgotten Moms on this day. Who don’t get cards from the school because there is only time to make one card in class. Who never have their whole family together to celebrate as one. but still play a huge role in their child's life but sometimes never gets the full recognition, they love the same as a biological parent sometimes more...Then there are the women who would give anything to become a Mother. But can’t. The unfairness is incomprehensible. There are mothers who have lost children. Who never dreamed that things would happen in the wrong order. That they would bury their child and not the other way around. How could this ever be a happy day again? There are the children who are estranged. Words, hurt feelings, anger. So much has happened and there is a gulf between them and the person that brought them into this world. There are the mothers who are estranged. Their children are still here, but yet they are gone. Perhaps it was a fight. Or perhaps drugs have taken priority over everything, and all a mother can do is wait and pray. I am blessed I have adopted 3 children my son 24, my daughter 11 and my daughter in heaven who would have been 19 this year..I can relate to all of the above and I know many more can as well, I vowed as a young girl to never be the Mother mine was and I can honestly say being a Mom is the one thing I may have gotten right in this crazy world of ours,,,I didn’t set out to write a bitter blog post, but rather to encourage us all to show compassion for those that might be hiding sadness behind their smiles today. And to be kind to yourself too. It’s ok to feel sad, even if you think you’re “supposed” to feel happy. Even when there ARE reasons to celebrate, this day can still trigger painful memories of years past that weren’t so joyful. Or maybe there is still a hole, a missing piece. Mother’s Day IS a reason to celebrate. But it is also a sad reminder for some of us. Be kind to yourself mama. You may be sad, but you are loved. Your children may be gone, but you are still a mother. Your mother may be gone, but you’re still her child. You may not have your own child yet, but you have the spirit of motherhood in your heart. You may be having a wonderful day, but there is just something missing. Or a little bit of sadness forcing its way through the cracks in your tough exterior. And that’s ok. We’re all there with you. We’re all grieving too. All in different ways, Have a blessed day all ;)
Hope