"It's Over... But It Happened"

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss 

This quote here. Very simple, but sensationally powerful.

In her thirty years of life, of living, she has endured many challenges, but also learned so many valuable lessons that she would be deficient without pausing to be grateful. There are so many times in life that one imagines what could have happened, had they only been a few minutes or a few seconds earlier or showed up five minutes later:

Those moments when you're driving on the highway and see a fatal three-car pile up...you become grateful that the annoying person at work wouldn't stop talking to you about the stupid coffee maker. While you didn't want to be rude and say "Shut up you idiot, I have things to do and I really don't care that you didn't have your caffeine today ...when in all actuality, you really didn't need to be drinking that anymore because your teeth are already stained and look a rotten, ratchet mess".  Instead you endured the conversation and politely walked away when they were finished. Had you not entertained that conversation, there's a great possibility that you might have been in that fatality. 

Or that moment you wake up and like every other normal day, complete your morning routine and leave for work. Once you arrive, you get a phone call from your neighbor saying that a shooting occurred across the street from your house, and his wife was caught in the line of fire while getting into her car...minutes after you'd already left. Had you changed your outfit one more time, or added one more coat of mascara, you too could have been in that line of gunfire.

There are so many moments like these that she has had to stop and thank God for keeping His hand on her, making provisions, causing interruptions or distractions to keep her from harms way. These life changing and future altering situations have not only occurred in the possible loss of life, but also the loss of love. It's over, but it happened.

She has been in long relationships, tending to try to endure and almost create or force happiness, all the while seeing the red flags, but chosing to ignore them in the name of love. Realizing that there are no perfect relationships, and no perfect persons (including herself), even when the good didn't outweigh the bad, she remained steadfast in hopes that things would get better, and things would change. So much time has gone by... So many things left unsaid... So many things she regrets... So many fingers pointed, placing blame here and there... It's over, but it happened.

She woke up one day and realized that it was all a #lifeLesson. Did she cry? Absolutely! Did she lose sleep? No doubt. So now what? After the tears, after the sleepless nights, after feeling sorry for herself..... Those tears of sorrow have turned into tears of joy and that frown is now a smile. Reminiscing not only for the memories of great times she shared with others, but also remembering the bad times, and the lessons learned from them. Not only does she know what not to deal with as she moves forward, she also knows what is tolerable and what is undesirable.

It's over, but it happened.

#lifeLessons #grateful