"Do you ever feel like you are missing something in your life? If so, do you consistently focus on that loss to the point where you forget about all the other things that you do have in your life? How do you not let that loss become the focus of your life? How do you switch from focusing on the negative to the positive?"

Over my lifetime, I have experienced great loss.  Death and goodbye are parts of life.  Hard aspects but are parts none the less.  When it happens to others around you, it makes you reevalaute how you are living and shows you that life goes by rather quickly.  Losing friends and family has made me realize what matters in life and what does not.  Since I love music, here is the song "Things that matter" by Rascal Flatts which reinforces what has been on my mind lately.

Here is some advice that I've come up with for you to follow if you would like to feel better about youself:

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day, which made me think about an earlier blog post I wrote, "The Value of Authenticity in Relationships." My friend and I have known each other for a number of years, and we have tried to be authentic with each other.   While I thought we were close, recent events happened that pushed us awayfrom each other and made us only discuss superficial topics.  My friend then brought up how I was a "frustrating friend," as I only talked about superficial topics; so, the friend had lost interest in our friendship. We were both going through hardships, yet we did not share with each other.  This example shows that it is even hard to reach out to share with your friends. 

I heard Natasha Bedingfield's  song "Strip Me" on the radio the other day and had to share.  Such an important message:

"I'M ONLY ONE VOICE IN A MILLION BUT YOU AIN'T TAKING THAT FROM ME!"

The dream starts out with a University Crew Women’s Eight at the starting line competing in a 6k race against three other boats.  The boat begins the course with eight rowers and one coxie.

At the starting gate, one of the athletes focused on how she was treated rudely by one coach and overlooked by the others because of her abilities. Suddenly, she - including her seat and her oar -disappeared from the boat!

The other athletes decide they would continue the race without her, since they had worked so hard during the season.  The race started off really well. Then at the the 5,900 metre mark, there is an equipment failure where one of the oarlocks breaks.  The athlete who’s oarlock broke doesn’t know what to do, and stops rowing. Then “poof”, the second athlete disappears.

The young adults in our society today are so transient.  We are constantly moving to attend schools, work, or just for a change.  This scene rings all too familiar with me; since leaving high school, I have had many new beginnings and endings with cities, schools, and work.  I have loved every one though, as I love meeting new people and learning their stories.  It is hard being new in an environment that is already settled.  It is even harder and almost impossible to break into an area when the people of the new place are resistant to change and are unwelcoming in their approach to meeting new people.  Therefore, you have to be persistent and it takes a lot of strength to attend a new setting.  It is hard work, and some people give up.