Rules to live by...

There are a few things I've learned in my twenty-something years on this planet...

1. Just love them. You will always feel better (and better about yourself) when you give love freely. 

2. Sometimes love hurts.... And that's okay. We all learn from it. If it hurts, it means you gave it 100% effort, and you can't do better than your best. 

3. Never stay together for anyone but yourself... They pick up on EVERYTHING. They WILL pick up on if you aren't happy, too. 

4. It's not the 17th century. You don't marry someone because you'll learn to love them, and a religion tells you that you should. You marry someone because they make you inexplicably, irrevocably, soul-on-fire happy that nobody else could do. 

5. Drink the wine... Get the cheap stuff and enjoy it, because I promise it is just as good as the expensive stuff. All that matters is the company. You can spend a lot on some pricey wine and not enjoy it because of who you're around... OR you can buy the cheap stuff and party in your underwear with your best friend and dance to 90s jams. I know what I'd pick! 

6. Hugs are the best... Get them often and give plenty of them. Never be the first to let go when you are hugging someone, especially a child. You never know how much the other person really needs it. 

7. Take the leaps of faith... If you fall, you learned, and you won't jump from that place again. If you fly... Well, that's the best feeling in the world. 

8. Keep the curiosity... Always stay curious to learn. Learning opens the mind and fuels curiosity... Which also happens to fuel the soul. 

9. Make an effort to stay in the lives of those that make an effort to stay in yours... And even those that don't very often. If you think they are worth your time, that's because to you, they are. Make the effort, make the phone call, leave a message, write a note. Sometimes the silliest little post it notes make a world of difference in someone's day. 

10. Make time for yourself... Whether it's yoga or meditating or blogging or running or painting or whatever. Make half an hour a day of time for YOU. Just 30 minutes. 

11.  Tell people how you feel. Often... Even if it's going out on a limb and risking your heart being shattered on the floor. Take the chance and just do it. Nothing sucks like living in the land of "what-ifs". Tell the people you are grateful for how much you appreciate them. It's ways nice to be reminded. 

There are many more, however I drank the wine and now it's bedtime.