The Road is Ever Winding

I once visualized a very different life for myself.  When I was in high school and into college, I imagined I would marry my sweetheart.  We would marry, have exactly two kids and a dog.

I was too young to realize that life often has its own plan.

I grew up with a Hollywood view on love and life.  Your man was supposed to make you happy and provide the fulfillment you seek. What a frustrated and temperamental girlfriend I was.  To this day, I have regrets about the way I treated him, the tantrums, the demands.  Yikes!

When I was 20, my sweetheart and I broke up.  A year later, I finally realized I needed to move on, but the idea of a husband and family was still firmly in my mind.

At 22 I graduated without having found my Mr. Right.  I did not know that it would be another six years before I even had a date, much less found Mr. Right!

I am now 43 years old.  I married, but divorced just 4 years later. I has been eight years since the marriage ended; I never had children, and I have four cats. 

My life did not turn out remotely the way I thought it would, but I have learned to find happiness along the way. Here are the (sometimes difficult) lessons I have learned so far:

1. I have to make my own happiness, nobody can make it for me. (Dangit, Hollywood!)
2. Life never turns out the way you intended, but it always turns out the way it is supposed to.
3. Life’s lessons are in all experiences, but you learn the most from the difficult or painful experiences than from the happy ones.
4. I make mistakes and am not perfect. I do not always win, but if I can be happy with the person that I am, that is all that matters.

I pray that your life’s journey is as winding, bumpy, amazing and wonderful as mine!