21 Life Rules

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Many a man you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversation skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don't believe all you hear. Spend all you have. Sleep all you want.
4. When you say "I love you," mean it.
5. When you say "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but its the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone ask you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone. Spend some time with God.
    

I haven't written on here in a while. But today requires documentation on how I feel and how I got through. Everyone has there own ways of dealing with life when it beats them down and beats them up. I have several ways that I deal but my favorite one is I make collages of all shapes, sizes and kinds. And today, when I don't really have what I need to make another one, I can look through the other ten that I have made and KNOW that I have been victorious before and I WILL BE VICTORIOUS AGAIN.

So what do these collages say? Let me share that magic with you....

• Conscience required! Do not wait for other people to change the world. The time is now. Do something.
• "You are the noblest of God's creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be." --Richard G. Scott
• "My love is deep enough to reach even you. You cannot fall past My love. You cannot outrun My love. You cannot reach the end of My love. It is wide and long and high and deep enough for you."
• a perfect storm.
• My friend, if I could give you one thing I would give you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Then you would realize what a truly special person you are.
• A good friend is a connection to life-a tie to the past, a road to the future, and the key to sanity in a totally insane world.
• Sometimes you gotta forget what you feel and remember what you deserve.
• Knocked about
• waiting for a miracle
• Be a hero to your heart.
• What's your feel-good factor?
• John 16:33
• "Every struggle I faced was necessary because it made me a better person."
• Sometimes it's good to sit quietly and let happiness come to you.
• To make a difference in the world, you must first dare to be different.
• Life takes indulgence.
• Show them what you're made of.
• No one will have your dreams... pretty cool, isn't it?
• "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." -Psalm 32:7-8

And then one of the collages...my very favorite is a collage of bible verses. I have written them all out and these are the verses that get me through the dark days. Here they are...look them up if you want.

• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Deuteronomy 6:4-7
• Ephesians 3:16-19
• Philippians 1:9-11
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• 2 Corinthians 12:9
• 1 Timothy 4:12
• Philippians 1:3
• Isaiah 43:2
• 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
• Psalm 13:1-2, 5-6
• 1 Peter 4:13
• 2 Corinthians 4:18
• Zephaniah 3:17
• Romans 12:2
• James 1:2-3
• Acts 4:12
• Romans 5:1-5
• 1 Peter 1:6-7
• Isaiah 40:28-31

And then there is my favorite tv show...One Tree Hill... yes, it is a show that is unrealistic and childish maybe... but I own all six seasons. And what I love most about the show is the quotes that I get from it. Let me share a few that speak for themselves and for me right now.

Every once in awhile, people step up. They rise above themselves. Sometimes, they fall short. Life is funny sometimes; it can push pretty hard, but if you look close enough, you find hope, in the words of children, in the bars of a song, in the eyes of someone you love…and if you’re lucky, I mean if you’re the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love, decides to love you back.

Sometimes I wonder if anything is absolute anymore. Is there still right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies or is everything negotiable—left to interpretation, gray? Sometimes we are forced to bend the truth and transform it because we are faced with things not of our own making. And sometimes, things simply catch up to us.

Truth is still absolute, believe that, even if that truth is hard and cold and more painful than you have ever imagined, and even when truth is more cruel than any lie.

Do you ever wonder how long it takes to change your life, a measure of time to be life-altering? Is it four years, like high school, one year, an eight-week rock tour? Can your life change in a month, a week or a single day? We are always in a hurry to grow up, to go place, to get ahead. But when you’re young, one hour can change your life.

If you haven't figured out... I love quotes and song lyrics. It lets me know that someone else has been where I have and felt what I have felt. Life is hard. It knocks you down sometimes. But you gotta find what it takes for you to stand back and push back.. these past weeks I have found the strength to push back. I never thought senior year would start off this hard.

And i'll leave you with a quote that I found last night....

Every lesson is a widening and deepening of consciousness. It is a stretching of the mind beyond its conceptual limits and a stretching of the heart beyond its emotional boundaries. It is a bringing of unconscious material into consciousness, a healing of past wounds, and a discovery of new faith and trust. -Paul Ferinni