Just saying.

Today I am writing for a couple of reasons. I have some quiet time at the moment and need to get a couple of things off my mind. I will leave this for my husband to deliver to you when he is ready.

You photographed my wedding, you photographed my first pregnancy and my first baby. I contacted you awhile back to photograph my 2nd child and family. After getting prices and realizing I would want all of the pictures as we love your work – I decided against spending $500+ – which is what I normally spend for portraits and prints with you.. Please know it is not because I don’t value your amazing eye, or how much we love the experience.

That week that I decided to NOT do a session with you, this is how I spent some money.

On Sunday I called and cancelled our session. Monday I went out and got my hair cut ($39+tip), and colored ($65), Thursday I had my nails done ($24), my family went out to dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant for no particular reason costing us $79 + tip. This was just 4 days since canceling our session, already totaling over $200 for un necessary things. My nails only lasted about 2 weeks, my hair is gone, and seven weeks passed when I got the phone call from our doctor. It was not something I expected and the cancer has spread very quickly. I will be leaving my husband, my 6 year old girl and my now 2 year old – not by choice. It is very hard for me to talk about it which is why I need to write you.

I watch your Facebook page and your posts about the value of a photo and if I could give back all of those things that I purchased this few weeks after I cancelled my session with you, knowing what I know now, and have that session, well… I would do it in a heartbeat.

Now my time is done and there are no more chances for me. The next time someone cancels a session – my wish is that you forward this letter to them. Time is fragile, it is gone before you know you had it. If you charged $200 for one print it wouldn’t be enough for what it is actually worth. I cringe to think that my priorities were a manicure over a memory to pass onto my babies and husband.

My love and thanks for what you have given us from past photos. I am so sorry that I did not see it as more than paper until now.

Karen L.

It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way.

From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard – People miss their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings – Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends – Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
This is a surprisingly common one.

Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice.

They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Personal Goals

1. Lose 70 lbs.
2. Eat less junk and fried foods
3. Reduce soda and tea consumption
4. No Caffeine and “high octane” sodas
5. Write, Starting with my personal letters.
6. Read 25 “new” books *re-reads do NOT count”
7. Exercise 30+ min/day X 5 day/week

Social Goals

1. Become “active” in Abraham C. Treichler Lodge #682
2. Become an “active” adult leader in Elizabethtown DeMolay.
3. Participate in all camp activities outside of summer camp.

The bright side is 30 days of hell then 2 days off then I’m back in class…

Also my stepbrothers are coming up to visit and I’m über excited its almost ridiculous.

Stress

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience,
Raised a glass of water and asked;
‘How heavy is this glass of water?’
Answers called out ranged from an ounce to a pound.

The lecturer replied, ‘The absolute weight doesn’t matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier
it becomes.’

He continued,
‘And that’s the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,
As the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
We won’t be able to carry on. ‘
‘As with the glass of water,
You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.’

‘So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/school down.
Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you’re carrying now,
Let them down for a moment if you can.’
So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.
Don’t pick it up again until after you’ve rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, And some days you’re the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, Just in case you have to eat them.
* Always wear stuff that will make you look good If you die in the middle
of it.
* Drive carefully. It’s not only cars that can be “Recalled” by their maker.
* If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, It was probably
worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, Because then you
won’t have a leg to stand on..
* Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
* When everything’s coming your way, You’re in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, But you may also be the world to
one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* We could learn a lot from crayons… Some are sharp, some are pretty and
some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but
they all have to live in the same box.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today… I
did.

A foolish dream perhaps. But I still hold onto it.
I know the chances are slim to none we could even work out but is it too much to still desire an opportunity to give it my all?

I’ve been told I should give up and move on. But I don’t think I can….Can I?

I self sabotage myself each and everyday I recognize it and dont know how to change it. I feel if I were to lose weight or change who I am I would have a better chance. But then it comes to the commitment to the process of actually putting all these plans into motion…and I fail..

When we talk I feel as though all do is spew forth negativity. (attractive right?, NOT) but I can OT figure out why and to what end. I’m not usually that type of person.

What can I do to make myself a better person? I don’t know that I’m good enough and I only hope that one day I could appreciate someone as amazing as you…

-Steve Jobs

-Unknown