I found some posts on facebook today that I can really relate to. I am going to share them with you here....

I do not define myself by how many roadblocks have appeared in my path.
I define myself by the courage I’ve found to forge new roads.
I do not define myself by how many disappointments I’ve faced.
I define myself by the forgiveness and the faith I have found to begin again.
I do not define myself by how long a relationship lasted.
... I define myself by how much I have loved, and been willing to love again.
I do not define myself by how many times I have been knocked down.
I define myself by how many times I have struggled to my feet.
I am not my pain.
I am not my past.
I am that which has emerged from the fire.
♥
Unkown~.

and....

  All the years you have waited for them to
“make it up to you” and all the energy you
expended trying to make them change
[or make them pay] kept the old wounds
from healing and gave pain from the past free
... rein to shape and even damage your life.
And still they may not have changed. Nothing
you have done has made them change. Indeed,
they may never change. Inner peace is found by
changing yourself, not the people who hurt you.
And you change yourself for yourself, for the joy,
serenity, peace of mind, understanding, compassion,
laughter, and bright future that you get.

|Lewis Smedes|
~Ross.

Change is definately in the air-- from the leaves changing into a bouquet of reds, oranges, yellows, and green that eventually make their dance to the ground to the chill in the air-- change is here whether we like it or not. There are a lot of changes in life too... we are lifelong learners no matter what possession or place in life, and as such variety is the spice of life, right? But sometimes we fight it...we resist change..we're afraid of it...instead of going with the flow, we dig in our heals--it may be something that is incredibly good for our souls or our bodies and yet we fight it.  Change is scary, yes, but sometimes alltogether necessary for our growth and movement through life. Wouldn't it be better to go into it empowered, as prepared as we can with our faith that everything WILL work out okay eventually (even if we can't see the hidden blessings at the time), and take the leaps of faith that may be necessary for change to occur? Now is as good a time as any to truly shed the old layers of ourselves-- the world needs the new and improved you!!! Release the past, let go of your tattered and torn ideas of what should and could have been, and find yourself in the present moment--- healed, inspired, engaged, empowered, ready, and willing. Let go of that which no longer brings you joy and no longer serves your true purpose here. Fill your space up with positive energy to the best of your abilities, no matter where you go or where you are led.... Ask for help along the way and trust that everything truly is unfolding as it is meant to. The really crappy part about resisting is change is that sometimes (usually?) it just goes on right ahead without us, and then it becomes uncomfortable, and super scary, heart breaking even. So, I'm going to go about my merry way.... accepting...acknowledging..releasing...healing... taking little leaps of faith and try my best to gloriously and whole heartedly embrace the changes that I have made and the changes that are on their way. Life is good... Life IS beautiful .It truly is about love...loving ourselves...loving others...loving life... the rest is merely details.

Namaste.