But then, what do I know?

So I wake up this morning and scuffle into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. On the kitchen cabinet above the coffee maker I see this:

In case you can't read it, it says "Good Morning! I love you Sweet Pea! 

So I am still smiling from that when I fix my coffee and scuffle on into the office, still wearing my flannel pj's. When I touch the mouse to clear away the screen saver, this comes up on the screen in a word document:

Good Morning Wonderfulness!!

My husband, he makes me laugh. I love that he was thinking about me and took the time to write a note in the first two places I'd be. I love that he knew the first two places I'd be. I really love that guy!

So, in a good mood and no projects immediately pending, I decided to catch up on my blogs. There are a few that I follow regularly and I decided to start with my favorite, the blog of a Twitter buddy @jdistraction called Zebra Sounds. Today she had a new post called Things I Believe. Check it out. The thing I love about Zebra Sounds is that her blog is so interactive. She comments along with her readers and asks them to answer her, or make lists of their own. 

I absolutely LOVED her Things I Believe list and agreed with each and every one of them. When I started posting my own things, I found my comments to be so much more than what might be appropriate. So, I cut them down to one sentence each and stole her idea for a blog post of my own. 

So, below are 10 Things I Believe. Read them and post your own list of Things I Believe in the comments. I want to see what everyone believes to be true in this life!

1. There really is that ONE thing in us all. The thing that makes our life worth living. Our true talent. Our passion. However, it is tricky and doesn't always reveal itself like we think it should. Sometimes we don't listen when it does, and sometimes it can take a lifetime to find it.

2. Love does exist. Real, true, love. Honest take the good with the bad day to day love does exist. But it isn't prettty. It isn't like infatuation or passion. It isn't roses, Champagne, and ocean view love all the time. It takes work. Real, true, love has to get down and dirty in the trenches every day to fight to stay alive. Real, true, love doesn't wear a tux and have a million dollar smile. It wears jeans and a hardhat and has dirt and grease all over it. Probably missing a tooth.

3. That being said, when you think you find it you have to remember, if it isn't reciprocated it isn't real, true, love. And you need to keep moving. You are only hurting yourself by accepting anything less. 

4. The world, our world, is open to any possibility. You just have to trust it enough to take the leap. You can't rely on someone else to do it for you because, in the end, no one looks out for you like you.

5. The way you view the universe, the world, your family, whatever? It becomes your reality. If you consistently remark on bad or negative things are? Or criticize people and expect the worst from every one and every situation? You are creating a bad place in which to live. And there's no one to blame but yourself.

6. When you accept personal responsibility for your life it is the ultimate freedom, the best gift you could ever give yourself. Realizing that your current situation is the result of choices you made, not something anyone “did to you” takes a lot of guts, but once you accept that you can move forward unencumbered. Not easy to do, not easy to do all the time, but so worth the pain that is inevitable.

7. For me personally, the decision not to have children was absolutely the right one. That doesn't make me any less of a person, it doesn't make me selfish, less powerful, less necessary and it doesn't hinder my journey through life. It simply gives me a different experience than those with children. I don't like it when people judge or tell me I wouldn't “know” about love or life since I don't have children. 

8. Every person in this world, no matter who they are, what age they are, what they do for a living, where they live, every person in this world deserves respect. I show everyone the respect of being a fellow human on this planet until they do something to cause me to realize they don't deserve it. I hate to see people talk down to someone because they clean houses or wait tables or come from a different country, race, religion or background. It hurts my heart for them. Both. And makes me a bit angry.

9. The best compliment I have ever received in my life, bar none, was from a former boss who told me I was “a person of integrity.” I really didn't get it at 30-something, but now, after everything I have been through over the 10 years since I worked with him, and all the life experience I have had, I really think that is the highest praise I could ever aspire to. Look up the definition, really read it and think about it. I am not sure I live up to it, but I do try. Every day.

10. Everything you say and do has an impact on others. All day every day whether you realize it or not. So the question becomes “how do I want to influence others today?” I try to think of this in my words, actions, tone of voice, and how I treat people around me.

So that's it. That's alls I know. How about you? I welcome your comments, questions, snide remarks or a list of your own in the comments section. Oh, and check out j's site at Zebra Sounds. She's got some awesome things on her list.

I just want to add the disclaimer that I know and have seen all of these things to be true enough to make me believe. I do my best to live by them, enact them, and trust these things in my everyday life. But I honestly can't say I always do. I am not posting this list to be preachy or sanctimonious, I just think we all have different core beliefs and when you take time to hear and think about what others believe, maybe it would change what you believe or at least open up a dialogue.