Is it really my birthday if I’m not blowing candles on a cake + there are no hot air balloons in sight?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RwXqcOMw0ng

there’s so much pressure for special occasions to be extravagant in the US.

sometimes a birthday is just another day. sometimes there are no hot air balloons or helicopter rides. 🚁

sometimes a birthday is a flight home, a night class, and a good night’s sleep.

no candles, no cake (#celiacprobs), 

no group of people encouraging you to make sure to make a wish, no gifts besides the air you’re breathing.

yes, our world is not black and white. yes, i’m an optimist. yes, i see that color and i try to nourish it. but just because i’m usually bubbly and cute doesn’t mean i’m happy all the time. just because i’m not smiling, doesn’t mean something is wrong. i’m geniuinely me, and i speak from where i am - anyone who knows me, knows that’s true. 

sometimes in life you feel like no one’s listening. that those around you only see you for your mistakes, your flaws, your set backs. don’t get discouraged, don’t get even, don’t imprison yourself in guilt or offense. you’ll only be hurting yourself, not them.

rejection is a part of life, but instead of looking at it as rejection - a word with such negative weight attached - look at it as a new beginning. sometimes in life you have to do things that you don’t want to do, or that make you uncomfortable, because there’s a door behind those obstacles. take courage my heart, be steadfast my soul - He’s in the waiting. 🎚

been going through a lot of growing pains lately. and i’ve only been twenty seven for seven days. 

solitude is a blessing. solitude is a learning experience. i’m content being an independent freelancer, a poet with a hundred causes that performs solo in the concrete jungle - hoping someone out there will be changed, will relate, will understand. i’m content being a bird without a cage, a wanderlust with no roots. becoming content with one’s own company, i feel, is a journey — but i wouldn’t trade my solo travels for anything. ✨ sure, there are days when i feel oh so small in a humongous world - and then i’m that much more glad for the spontaneous adventures and new people i meet along the way.

.... i’m SO thankful that i got to share this moment with a special soul that — ironically enough — shares the same birthday. 🌼🌷

it’s moments like these that melt away all my fears and insecurities. moments where i realize that i am not my past, and i am not my mistakes, although they are shaping me in a positive way - whether i know it or not. in the final judgement, those that you feel are breathing down your neck... focusing on your shortcomings...

it’s not about you + them anyway.

actually,

check out this video on #RelationshipGoals , the Prison of Offense, and how Jesus could have easily held a grudge against the very people He came to save who betrayed Him. He chose love. He chose forgiveness. 🎚

Choose love. Every day. In every way. 

✈️ Even after eleven hours of travel on march nineteenth, I still helped a woman on my train ride (straight from JFK ➡️ LIRR ➡️ NJ Transit ➡️ School) carry her stroller through the train cars (everyone else was just staring at her). 

I’m not saying that to prove a point, except to say that sometimes it’s best to bring the focus out of ourselves, especially on the days we feel emotionally and physically drained and our thoughts are not well. 

There’s a difference between being nice, and being kind. People won’t return the favor. You may never even see them again. 

Be kind anyway.

SUSCRIBE:➕

mysweetsurrenderr.blogspot.com

📷: @ryyster on IG

Ryan Wilson