Never settle

I always find it interesting where inspirations for this blog come from. Sometimes, it comes from a song I hear (I have a collection of "Songs to inspire", some of which are listed on my home page), or a phrase I heard. Many times, it comes from something that is said, but the reference in which those words were said might be in a different context than what is written here. I have settled in my life...who hasn't? Where we accept what we see right now, as being all that we will ever see. That it can never be different. It can be hard when things you have are not the way things should be, and changing those things sometimes is easy. Others, not so much. I have been given something that I have never had before. NEVER. Even though I may have wanted it in the past, it never came my way for one reason or another and I accepted that. I had closed that door as one that would never open, and then when it came my way in a fashion I did not expect, I was in shock. Really. Don't settle being in a marriage that is loveless. Don't settle for a job that you feel obligated to keep because there are bills to pay. Don't settle doing things that no longer make you happy. Don't settle for the "I can't" mentality because that is easy. I have come a long way in many ways over these last 20 months. I am grateful for the changes I make in my own life, that somehow in a crazy way, might inspire you to change your life as well. We all need that. We need to know we are not alone. We need to know that we have permission to want and need more and it is not being selfish when we express those wants and needs. We can serve others when we serve ourselves first. I have experienced something that I had only dreamed about, but never really accepted as something that would be for me. It was for others. But not for me. It couldn't be. It didn't happen that way for me. And now that I am in the thick of it, I want it. Even when it is hard, I need it. I feel guilty for needing and wanting it, but now that I have it, I never want it to go away. The guilt would never equal the longing for it should its time with me come to an end and I would miss it for the rest of my life. And I would grieve all of the "yesterdays" that never were. Never settle...this is the way it is supposed to be. JS.