Bleh. I felt like writing tonight, but I kept thinking of a million different things I wanted to write about. So I guess I'll hit on them all. I'm going to center this post on quotes. Quotes from books that I've read and kept on my Kindle.
First quote - Drumroll please.....
"The simple truth [is] that sometimes the most ordinary things [can] be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people"
This quote is taken from The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. Hands down my favorite author. Up until this year a rarely read any books unless he wrote them, but I ran out and had to venture out and try something new.
So. This quote. I love it. Why? Because it's true. I think almost everyone who has ever lived can probably agree on this. Some of my first memories are riding in the tractor with my dad. Definitely an ordinary thing. Unless of course you've never been on a tractor, then I suppose it wouldn't seem so ordinary. It was a pretty common thing for me and my siblings to do on the weekends. We would fight over it and we had to take turns. We'd be out there for hours. Bouncing around. Joking with my dad. Listening to Shania Twain and Faith Hill. I'll always remember my dad singing "I Feel Like A Woman." Example one of an ordinary thing made extraordinary, because I was with my dad.
I have other memories, but I'm not quite up to hashing them out tonight.
"So I feel unsettled about my future and somewhat regretful about my past."
This quote probably doesn't have the same effect as the previous one. This one is taken from "Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffen. Great book. Which was also made into a great movie. I think it's common to feel unsettled about your future. I mean if you know exactly what you want to do, and you know exactly how you're going to do it, I suppose... good for you? I think that is a very rare occurrence. For me, I know what I want to do. At least for now. I want to coach. And teach, I guess. At a small school in a rural town. Preferably in North Carolina. Now my problem is getting there. I think I can probably manage my way through school easily enough. But then the job hunt begins. More than likely my first job will not be where I want. Eventually I think I can make my way over to the east coast.
The second part, about having regrets, is the part that I almost wish I didn't like. But of course, it is my favorite part about the quote. I read a quote somewhere once that said something along the lines that you shouldn't regret things because at one time that's what you wanted. Bleh. I don't really wanna talk about regrets either. We all have them. I think that's enough said about that.
"Life can be a series of happy mistakes."
This one comes from Faking It by Elisa Lorello. Ahh I love this quote.
"Does trust have to be earned? Or is it simply a matter of faith?"
This one comes from At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks. It's weird how alike everyone is, yet we're all so different. Some people can go about life trusting in anyone. They get hurt a lot, but it pays off. Some people don't trust anyone. They don't get hurt, but then again, they don't take any risks. You can miss a lot by doing this. I think I'm somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to the not trusting anyone side. I don't think I was always like that. Somewhere along the way it changed.. Slowly I'm sure. We all put up walls, some of us just build taller walls than others. We all want to see who's brave enough to climb over them or knock them down.
"and the thought of him could still stop me in my tracks, send a ripple through my heart, fix a knot in my chest."
The power of exes. It amazes me. Love the One You're With by Emily Giffen. This is another book I would recommend to just about anyone. I think somewhere along the way everyone has that one ex. The one that has these exact effects. If you don't have that one ex, well in my opinion, you're probably with them now or you lack emotional depth.
"A son is a son 'til he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter all her life."
Also taken from Love the One You're With. When my brother went to college, he grew away from my parents. Granted he lives about 3 hours from home. When he got his girlfriend, I think that distance grew. And now their married and I think it's even further. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all. I love my brother. I love his wife. But I have never gone more than 2 days without speaking to my mother and father. I am a daddy's girl, always have been, and I don't doubt I always will be.
"The past can be embraced only by embracing something better."
This one's from Nicholas Sparks' latest book, The Best of Me. Loved this book. I will admit it wasn't my favorite, but I still loved it. This, in particular, is something I'm working on.
And my last few quotes are taken from Why I Love Singlehood by Elisa Lorello and Sarah Girrell. Loved this book.
"But these days, I'm more taken with the idea of being my own best friend. Because if you can't live with yourself, you'll never be able to live with anybody else."
I like this quote because it's something I know I struggle with. I think a lot of the times, we're all looking for someone to "complete" us. I want to be "complete" before I find someone. I want to be happy with myself. I want to be able to deal with my struggles on my own. So I know I can. Eventually (hopefully) I'll have someone to fall into when I need to. But I would like to be able to deal with my struggles on my own.
Finally, my new favorite quote.
"Singlehood is about finding and committing to the love of your life. I'm talking about the literal love of your life. Being in a place of self-sufficiency, strength, independence, comfort, confidence, and happiness is what matters. No relationship, not matter how seemingly perfect and compatible you are, can give you these things. You have to find them within. You have to bring them to your relationship. Because in the end, you don't have to be alone to be single. And being single doesn't mean that you are alone. In other words, singlehood is a state of mind."
I know it's a long one, but it's worth reading. I think it pretty much speaks for itself. With that, I'm going to watch Something Borrowed, maybe have a glass of wine, and try to figure out what the literal love of my life is. Perhaps I haven't found it yet. I suppose I'll just have to keep looking.
In the meantime,
Peace, Love, and Happiness
