The boyfriend I had as a girl was the one I thought I would marry, but didn’t.  We were only 15 and 16 years old.  Back then girls and boys generally dated a long time before getting married, unlike how fast things move along these days.  What happened to us was average to so many: we grew apart.  But what I see now from this side is that we weren’t meant to be together.

Not everyone believes there is one person meant for them.  But there is.  So what happens that keeps people from meeting and marrying their other half?  Mostly it’s the decision (intent) to be married by a certain time.  It puts a lot of pressure on dating, as well as getting to know the other person; to discover if they are your true match in all the important ways. 

There is a plan through God that develops a time and place for each of you to meet.  It may or may not be in a romantic setting, but if it’s meant to be, your hearts will sense the joy in meeting your other half!

The day I died I regretted only that I didn’t speak up often enough in life.  There were so many times I could have added something to a conversation, but instead kept it to myself thinking it wouldn’t matter, anyway.

Nonsense, I now know!  Had I spoken up I would have had many more opportunities to be in better control of my own life.  But because I behaved so passively, I allowed others to chart my life’s course too many times.

Talk out loud with enthusiasm and goodwill, or talk to yourself and be miserable.  What you have to say really does matter, so speak up!

Achievements meant many things to me when I was on your side.  Sure, there were job accomplishments with raises that followed, or athletic fetes, but in truth nothing meant as much to me (looking back) as my own will to live.

Forces are around us all the time to give up and succumb to what’s easiest, or go away.  But instead of dying when I was gravely ill, I kept my focus on leaving behind anything that felt like sorrow while committing myself to living with purpose.

It’s a gift to be born.  But then it’s up to you to give back to yourself the incentives to push through all adversities with the knowledge that you have more living to do.  As accomplishments go, that was my most rewarding achievement!