Faith in goodness and love

You might think on the day of your birthday you will celebrate with family and friends and it will be full of joy, laughter and love ... but sometimes it just isn't like that. That was my birthday this year.

The events of the day before, May 28th, seemed to overpower the celebration meant for the 29th.

One may argue that you should ignore all that has gone before and "be in the moment" ... and normally I would say I can do this, but yesterday I could not. My work ethic, personal integrity and ability to be a true friend were all called into question on Friday. How do you ignore that? Of course, it also happened to coincide with the anniversary of my Father's death. To say Friday was a tough day would be a huge understatement.

However, it would also be misleading to recall my birthday as totally miserable because there were pockets of beautiful moments with friends and my family that I will treasure. I was given the gift of my husband's presence and support throughout the events of Saturday morning, my two girls made a special effort with their birthday cards, and then I found myself in the company of some very special friends throughout the afternoon. Yet I felt sadness in my heart, and perhaps I couldn't receive those wonderful gifts in full.

Today I have been able to reflect upon the last few days and still find myself wondering what it has all been about. My faith in the goodness of people and beauty of love, however, have been somewhat restored as I found many lovely birthday wishes on my Facebook page, email, mobile phone and in my birthday cards. So perhaps Sunday the 30th has been the day when I have been able to celebrate my birth some 37 years ago, which luckily enough my Father was alive to enjoy.

Overall I feel grateful for my life, my family, my friends and my faith. These are beautiful gifts that cannot be taken away by dishonesty and bullying. I hang on to these with joy and love, and hope that laughter comes my way soon.

❤❤❤

Being different

Today has been a hard day. Today, I felt like I was back at high school; I had that feeling of not fitting in and of being different. Yes, it is silly. But you can't control how you feel. However, the benefit of being 20 years older is having the knowledge that you can control your reaction to these feelings!

I have two wonderful books on the go at the moment ... the first is called The Six Questions of Socrates and the second is Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know. I am loving the ideas contained within these two books, especially the concept of my purpose in life being to grow into the best human I can be ... with virtues such as a sense of social justice, a sense of courage, piety toward humanity and love or empathy for others. It is with this knowledge that I can reflect upon today's events and remain confident in the person I am now and who I want to be in the future.