SQUIRREL!!!!!

It's a scene in a kids movie, it is the meeting of a man and a dog, the dogs name is Doug and he has been fitted with a device that allows humans to hear what he is thinking...and in the process us hearing his thoughts as he meets the hero of our story the dog suddenly looks to his left and we hear...SQUIRREL!!!





Its a very cute movie, and the scene although somewhat unbelievable always gets a laugh. Because it seems like a very dog-like thing to do, to be in the midst of a conversation and suddenly your thoughts jump to something else, but in all reality sometimes its just me. Well me and a few of my friends. My newest group that have not only welcomed me into their arms, and hearts is my Ladies of the Round Table. To say that I felt immediately at home and akin to these ladies would be an understatement. As I sat at the table the first night we had thrown ourselves together and decided it was going to be more that it was, was only a few short weeks ago. I feel as though I have known them much longer. We are instantly talking and sharing and laughing with not a moment of awkwardness. There are jokes, inside ones too...and we all seem to get it.



It is true that a few of those who graced the roundness of our celebratory first meeting, I actually have known and one I count a very dear friend, but several are new FAST friends. At the first gathering we all shared a bit of our story, and it became all too apparent that there is depth in these stories. History, helping, happiness, hard times, heros and by that I mean HERos. This amazing group are all carrying heavy loads of responsibility. But they are handling it with humor, determination and class. They are all who I want to be when I grow up. Some are in the throws of success, others on the cusp and some just in the dreaming stage. But there is not a doubt in my mind that whatever their dreams are they are on the short road to being realized....and new dreams are already in the que as they move towards their future.



I was told recently that someone appreciates my freindship, because she feels like there are no requirements like in other friendships she has had. She is talking about people in her life who could not seperate geography and time from friendship. Their belief that a friend i someone who is around you physically, gives you time even if they don't have it or they are not worthy of the title. I am opposed not only to this belief and definition but also in the practice. The people that I call friends hold me in their heart, even if they rarely see me. I am comforted by the fact that I know that they are there. I feel sure that if there were to be a serious need in my life, they would show up in a big way...cause they always do.



I don't have to have the ceremony of friendship because they are real friends. I don't have to have gifts, but when there are gifts I know that they come from their heart. There is no jealousy, no tantrums, no drama. There is only comfort and a feeling that while I would love to spend more time with each of them, I am grateful for what they gift me and that which I can share with them.



We are all more alike than different. We all have hopes and dreams and committments. We all want more for each other than we strive to attain for ourselves. We are often distracted by the "squirrells" in our lives, but we also know that one of us will have notepad to write down where we left off and bring us back to center when the "squirrel" moment has passed.




I don't even mind those crazy here we go onto something else moments, I am far to busy enjoying the amazing women and men who are showing up in my life. I would rather be in the midst of these amazing friends that with almost anyone else on the planet. Although a "squirrell" named Ryan or Brendan might hold my attention for a few minutes, eventually I would need to get back to my ladies so we could talk about the moment

.

I have been on a journey over the last few years that has included some goodbyes, needed and necessary parting of the ways. The reasons are many but the ultimate goal was all the same, inviting those who do not honor my life or help me to be a better person to seek life elsewhere. I do not sit in judgement, I simply know for me that when you are creating things that leave you miserable, you misery can be catching. I know completely and sincerely that my drama was of my own making. I am grateful for those who showed up in my life to give me an alternative. Now I don't even begin to know how nor do I wish to ever go back to that lifestyle. It is a choice.



The degree in a peacefull life that now hangs in my heart was a gift from others who had traveled the drama highway before me. Their warnings rang true, that if I would keep doing what I had always done, I would get what I had always gotten. This new life is about appreciation and gratitude. Understanding the unwritten laws of physical and emotional living, has made my life a complete do-over. I am so grateful I got another chance to get it right! I am so glad that as life continues to inch towards my hopes and dreams, the hole left by those who left or were invited to exit has allowed wonderful, amazing, loving, compassionate, real friends to enter and take up residence in my reality. I do not have to have known them forever, nor do I have to know them from now on. They understand the fleeting nature of life. They like myself appreciates quality over quantity, honesty over hype, love over lust. They are all about respect and honoring the moments instead of regretting the past. They treasure like me the real stuff, the "squirrell" stuff, the happy stuff.



I love all the people in my life. They are here as a gift to me. The gift is mine to learn from, smile from, grow from or just enjoy. They teach me more than I can even learn, but that never stops me from trying to get every ounce of wisdom that I can soak up. Even when their actions are of the nature that makes me want to get away, I understand that it is their choice to live the life they wish just the same as I can choose. I just hope for everyone a glimpse of the view from here. A place where only good survives, because I am practicing being and attracting that which I desire and know to be good. I love that my life is a do-over, cause I messed up a major part of the first half. I thought it was supposed to be awful and make me sad. I thought that all the great things that were a part of life were for everyone else besides me. I didn't know how to make it good here...but now I do. I love too that those who have left this life, now have a chance to have their life be a do-over too...OR not. We all get the same options...and we all get to make our own choices. So glad I got to get "SQUIRRELLL"------