Dear James

Life is only too fleeting, But life is a stepping stone to a better place. You are there. You are part of the beautiful night sky now; A star twinkling brightly that we all may find. May you be in complete peace, And twinkle brightly tonight. x

Broken.

I watch your world from a far; wishing, wanting. Watching it unravel. Twisting in my thread delicately so as not to disturb the foundation as yet undisturbed but dangerously close to shattering. Crocheting the pieces of your broken world together, only to ruffle my own. The beauty in the mess will come through. Honestly.

This moment is yours. Take it.

New hope and new beginnings bring with them a promise. This is a promise that is rarely met. This promise is of fulfilment of desires and expectations. Some may say to believe this promise is foolish, fool be it. There is much corruption in the world we live in. Is there harm in hoping for a better world?

Strive for accomplishment and recognition, but also strive for value and respect. Respect not only of those who do not yet know you but a further respect of those that do. Respect in selfless ways. One of the tangled pathways leading towards, the often thought as unattainable, goal of self respect is to find meaning. Meaning, I believe, comes hand in hand with purpose.

So many people are plagued by their past. In this position the hope that I speak of can seem a world away. The thing is, as hard and painful as this prospect may appear, to make friends with your past essentially means you can leave it at last. The ghost of the past may come back to haunt you at various times, but each time it does, if you can face it, deal with it and get back to the present and the hope for the future, you will be a stronger person for it. Live in the moment and the promise of what is yet to come. The moment is now.

Love and life

Can you have one without the other? I do not pretend to know. To have a love is a concept that I cannot capture. To be loved, I feel is special. I have yet to experience this. By loved, I mean a life changing love.

The illusion of love is a whole other notion. I do have experience of this. I’ve eluded love in a lot of situations throughout my life. This illusion has made me over analyse aspects of my life that I really did not want to; but such is life.

To love yourself for the person you are is truly tough. To accept yourself, faults and all, is one of life’s challenges. If we take on this challenge, we may fear that we will crumble. Fear not. This, I feel, is part of the process.

An ounce of fear is good. It is fear that keeps you from becoming something that you do not want to be. Fear keeps you in the game of life.

Live it and you will love it. I have no doubt.

Extreme ways

Throughout life there are challenges to face up to. Some battles we win and some we lose. Value can be placed on the smallest gestures; whether it is a smile or a mutual understanding to just let be.

I think it is important to recognise, the toughest of people have weak moments. It may not be obvious because a lot of people put on a fantastic show. They could be falling apart inside. They cannot lose face. They just do it; this is how they survive.

It is all relative, insomuch as to say, everyone has their own unique way of dealing with a situation. This is the beauty of the individual. This concept should be emphasized until the weight, that life can inevitably bring, is, not only numbed but, comfortably lifted.

My inspiration

The ones I admire most are those who handle the toughest situations with grace. The thing we all have to realise is that, yes, we all have a pile of shit in life. The basic philosophy to dwell on is that shit happens and when it does come flying, we have to go through it. Wade in it. But deal with it and come out the other side a better person for it.

Many of those who I most admire have no idea I do. I am in complete awe of their heroic, modest nature. This nature will be of great value to many. We should simply take the time to recognise it.

The nearly dead and the newly bred have more in common than those in the middle.

Some see life as a daily, somewhat arduous, task they’d rather have rid of. This is rock-bottom. To see life as a daily challenge is different. This is a double sided sword. But to face up to life with a smile and durable attitude is no doubt the best way, I have found, so far.

The competition never ends. Some people don’t realise that it’s only a constant contest if you play in to it: the prettiest, the best dressed, the best body...etc. Surely all this only exists in the mind that contemplates it. As superficial as it may seem, most of us are attracted to those who please the eye, what about those who don’t? It’s a harsh truth to grasp but there are those who walk through life alone. No one to hold them, care for them, or tell them their life means something.

Living in this day, this moment in time, this age, this country, I feel incredibly privileged. To have all that’s available and not to have to say thank you. I am so ridiculously lucky in so many respects. It almost makes the respects I am not so lucky in obsolete.

What you make of what you have available to you is your life. This has become ever so clear to me over the last few months. Don’t wait for life to happen to you. Make it happen for you.