Friends

There is something about friends that makes life somehow sweeter. More human, in a way. There are the rich earthy undertones of deep meaning. It makes you feel like your life is worth living.

Just thinking about the memories I’ve made with some of them make me feel warm, like I’m wrapped up in a fluffy, comfortable fur blanket.

There is a feeling of familiarity in the memories. Run your hands across it, and it feels like your life. It really happened to you. And, if you could, you’d love to take a trip in time back to it.

When you think back on the best times in your life, you smile, remembering the people in it. The way you felt bonded. The fun and crazy times you had.

The richness of your life is like continuous stream of people, flowing in and out. The quality people who you are able to collect and keep with you are those very familiar faces impressed in your mind.

The more that you control the flow of this stream, the happier you will become. The less you care to, the more it will grow dirty and murky, the color of stagnant, swamp waters.

When you’re alone all the time, you become restless, depressed, anxious, and mentally cloudy. Your anxiety takes over.

The people in your life hold you up. They make you a better person. A more attractive person. One who’s filled with happiness and confidence.

Their reputation, kindness, and authenticity enhances yours.

When you’re surrounded, they bring out the best of you. The most powerful version of who you are.

Our friends vouch for us. They remind us of who we are. They keep us grounded, while also loving us completely.

A true friend is rare, and should always be kept until the grave.

What makes up a life?

Your life is just a groove in this reality. The groove where you choose to spend the most time.

You could stuff a suitcase, catch a late night flight to the other side of this world, and wake up in a new country. The second that the plane touched the ground, you would feel different.

I know, because I’ve done it. I’ve traveled the world. One day, you find yourself in the middle of a night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand, holding the hand of a pretty girl, shopping for exotic art, the kind that you’ve never ever seen before.

You realize in that moment, that you could have a life, a different kind of life, with this person there. You could have a wife, kids, a house, the whole nine yards. There’s nothing that’s stopping you.

Technically, it is so easy to move from one culture to another. You just have to get on a plane. Find a new job. And be willing to give up most of American culture.

You will feel different living in another country. As though you’re not truly at home.

There’s a foreign feel to the air, even though you’re on the same planet.

There’s something they don’t tell you when you’re a kid. There’s a secret that no one shares. When you go around the world, you are treated differently. For the first time in your life, you step out of your culture. You begin to see that there are other ways of living.

Not everyone thinks the same or comes to the same conclusions about what’s most important. Very much, we are the product of the cultural norms of our society.

What if your personality would fit better in a different culture? One with a home-base that’s located on another part of the globe.

It feels forbidden to want to live somewhere other than your home country. But, shouldn’t you go where you’re treated best? Where you fit in most?

When you do take the risk to spend real time somewhere that’s not your home country, you suddenly understand the consequences of living in a new place.

It’s your relationships. The ones back home. It’s your understanding of what’s going on in your home country. The little shows and movies that you’re missing out on. Your roots wilt. You sacrifice your memories.

You certainly learn more about yourself, but you also loosen the ties with friends and family. The ones who your best memories are with.

I now understand what a life is.

A life is simply a reflection of how you spend your time.

You could walk a lush green path that leads you towards marriage.

You could decide to climb the mountains of ambition, and forego ever having your own children.

You could have all of your social ties in one city, state, or country.

The longer you stay in a place, the more grooves that you make there.

The memories, scenery, and way of life becomes carved into your mind. When other people think back to this time, they remember you.

All that makes is up a life is how you choose to spend time.

Who do you spend it with? What do you spend it thinking about? How do you spend it feeling?

That’s what it comes down to.

You decide where you FEEL best, and who with.

Love

It seems that everyone is searching for love, waiting for it, falling into it, and falling out of it these days.

Wedding and baby photos fly by as you scroll through your Facebook feed. The kind of events that define a life, whether for good or for bad.

Can you count the times that you said I love you, and didn’t really mean it? You can alway tell. There’s that feeling. It feels… like a lie. It makes you uncomfortable to say it.

The fairy tales told us that love is eternal. That when we’re in love, that it’s going to last forever. That’s what marriage is supposed to be, isn’t it?

Don’t mind all of the divorces and cheating that we’ll neatly sweep under the rug. Don’t mind all of those lies.

Love is not eternal. And neither is friendship.

When it comes to momentary connections with other human, nothing is.

A person is a changing, flowing state of emotions, thoughts, urges, and desires. An ever shifting landscape of values and principles.

You can fall into love. You can fall out of it. The only difference is your focus. What your mind is focused on.

Are you hooked on the way he makes you feel wanted, or appreciating his kind and caring nature?

Do you zero in on his flaws, or let yourself accept them?

Are you chasing love out of fear?

Love is a state that you feel. It’s how you feel about your life, and the people in it. It can be comfortably addictive.

Once you’ve felt the intimacy of a homey connection, you’ll crave it on every cold day.

Like a warm soup, it nourishes your soul and warms your bones.

People are fluid creatures. One day, what you most loved in her may not be as prominent.

Maybe they’re no longer full of energy, because they’re tired from their long work hours. Maybe they don’t make you feel excited anymore, because they don’t feel excited when with you.

True love is about being able to weather the good and the bad. To always be able to see kindness in another.

No matter what happens, to not be willing to stoop so low as to hurl insults, daggers, and spears.

It’s a loyalty to the fact that even when you’re not feeling love towards her, you will still make the effort to see her best qualities.

You are deluding yourself, because you know that feeling will come back. That feeling of being in love.

Love is not forever. It’s not easy. It takes work. It’s a commitment.

You have to be with someone who, even on the worst days, you can feel like it’s worth it. This journey that you’re on.

Basically,

She has to be hot enough to put up with.