Every once in a while, you find a truth so deep, so intense, that it's no longer possible to ignore it.
While on Skype earlier, I updated my status. When I pressed send, that sentence was there for the world to see. At first, I was not even sure where it came from-- maybe it was all of the caffeine I had today. Or maybe it was the heat of the election after last night's debate. Either way, I typed it and pressed send without much thought. I almost immediately had a response from a girl I knew in high school. As we talked, she told me how much my words meant to her and the closure she received from them. The more we chatted back and forth, the more words flew from me. I hope it works out, love. And by works out, I mean what needs to happen is what actually happens, even if it's not the happiest answer quickly turned into Regardless of your decision, you will be able to come to a point of happiness. I completely believe that. It's all a matter of which path you choose to get there. But sometimes, the best way to get there is to leave others behind. Just as I pressed send, it clicked. Am I really conceited enough to believe those words were given to me only so I could share them with her? Am I that blind? Each letter I typed had to come from a part of me; that's the only way it could sound so raw.
This afternoon, I went to lunch with one of my favorite women. As we talked about her boy troubles, she asked me for advice. I was as blunt as possible, not leaving any stone unturned to the truth behind her hesitations. As my words of honesty sank in for her, they also did for me. Wisdom like this has to come from somewhere, even if we don't want to see the source. It's easier for us to ignore where the advice we give to other people comes from. The second we realize it's also about us, we want to run away. It's easier to recognize why others are having issues than to see the why written on our own hearts. It's time for us to listen up. Our hearts are trying to speak to us. If people in similar situations come to us for advice regularly, chances are, there is a reason that we know what to say. We either have been there or we are there. Based on the human condition, I'm going to make the staggering claim that we are there. We have to stop pretending our advice only applies to other people. It is so much simpler for me to tell someone that I haven't seen in years to make a change than to tell myself that, although I know myself much more than I know her. There's something about our own reality that freaks us out. The only way to step into a better future is to face our present. Does that mean I'm going to handle all of my problems tonight before I go to bed? Probably not. Do I expect you to deal with everything jumbled in your life as soon as you wake up? Absolutely not. Every destination needs a good journey. Realizing that sometimes we need to take our own advice is a starting point that we can all tackle together.
