365 days project 2. Day 36. Determination

     If plants can do it, we can do it too. No matter what we're wishing, the sky is the limit! 

   Have you wished something really bad and waited for years and years to get it? In the end your wish came true, right? Some wishes take more time than others, but until now everything I wanted to achieve came true. I started travelling abroad, I have seen the Black Sea, I have my own camera, I have my own home, I met the love of my life and got married to him, I found my dream job... everything minus having a dog. But I'll get there too someday :)

   What are your biggest wishes and what's stopping you from having them granted? Money? Time? Something else? Find a loop. Be creative! If plants can do it, you can do it too! :)

365 days project 2. Day 35. While it lasts

    We only have one life... that we know of. And time is ticking. 

   When we're born we all receive an hourglass: brand new, with a loooot of sand in the upper part, but then the sand starts slowly flowing down. Years pass, we explore, we learn, we make mistakes, we learn some more, we start working and then life stops. 

   Before having a job, 24 hours a day seemed reasonable, but afterwards time felt like slipping through my hands. I don't know how it is for you, but for the past 4 years I always felt like I needed more hours in a day. It's so easy to start stressing about not having enough time to finish what you planned for but then...

   We only have one life... that we know of. And time is ticking! Use it wisely... while it lasts! :)

365 days project 2: Day 16. tiME

   Time. An hour can feel like a year or like a minute. When you're looking forward to an event it feels like time is dilating and when you're planning for another can make it feel like it's shrinking. Isn't it funny how the same amount of minutes can take so many shapes?

   These days, more than ever I can't wait for time to pass faster until this Friday, the 25th. My girls and I are going "somewhere" for a weekend to celebrate my Bachelorette Party. I have NO idea where I'm going, who exactly is coming and what is happening there. I just know it will last for a weekend and no matter how much I tried to find clever questions to get some clues I couldn't get them so here I am, reaaally hoping time passes faster so Friday can come sooner. On the other hand, there isn't much time left until the wedding and the paperwork for marrying a foreign citizen seems way more complicated than I initially thought. So natually I hope I'll have enough time to solve it all before the deadline. 

   One person wishing for time to both shrink and dilate. Now that's something you won't see every day, I bet :)

365 Project 2: Day 2. Womanhood

   It's 8th of March again. Everybody's celebrating the women all around and I'm happy they take time to do that, but is it because they want to or because they are taught they have to? Do women know when they become women? Do they truly acknowledge what being a woman is?
  Today I heard someone ask if the supermarket also had flowers for sale. "No" was the answer followed by "Why not? It's 8th of March, we need flowers". The city was filled with them either way. Just not that supermarket... Somehow it seems to me that like Valentine's day, this day mainly reduces to a humongous mass of flower sellers who want to make as much money as they can and a lot of men who want to please their women and go for "something presentable and hopefully cheap". Because they HAVE to bring flowers home. The other men bring flowers because they know their women would love to receive them but also because they realize what kind of women they have around them and they treasure them every single day not just once a year. They say "Thank you", "I love you!", "Have a wonderful day, sweetheart!", "You are so beautiful!", "I loved your food", "Can I help you cook?" They care. They don't have to give flowers to show their love. Their women just know. And these are the men that help this world go on, the men who help women wake up with a smile on their face... It's so simple to make a woman happy! No, really! You just have to pay attention to what makes her smile and do that more often :) There it is. I told you the secret.
   I searched "woman" in the dictionary. It says it contains "the nature, characteristics, or feelings often attributed to women". People think being a woman means being sensitive, gentle, fragile and in need of protection. But they forget the warrior nature that we also have rooted deep within us. How else would we be able to go on through life after so many heartbreaks and lessons learnt one way or another, give birth and raise kids beautifully, take care of the household and still be wonderful women who deserve those flowers on the 8th of March? :)
   Becoming a woman is a gradual process. It's not like going to sleep a teen one day and waking up a woman the next one. It takes time for the seed of womanhood to grow inside and then bloom and have fruits on the outside. But we do know when we become women. It takes some time to acknowledge what that actually means and we're often confused because of all the duties and responsabilities society gives us at certain ages when we "should" be women. Some girls take more time than others. And that's alright. As long as they acknowledge that being a woman doesn't mean you're perfect and always in control. That you're allowed to have fears, to not know what to do next or how to solve a problem alone.
   We're all humans. Men and women. And the 8th of March should be about appreciating the women for both their gentleness and their fierceness. For that "je ne sais quoi" that makes them necessary in men's lives. At least that's why I would give my woman flowers if I were a man. Wouldn't you?

I want you to know

   On this sunny October day I want you to know that life is never perfect, but it's always beautiful.

   That it goes on no matter how hard the journey might seem. You'll need your friends to ease that up, but you can make it.

    That you always have options. Even when you think you don't.

   That people don't change, their needs do. And sometimes there's nothing you can do to make them happy anymore. But that only means your job there is done and you have to go somewhere else and make other people happy.

   That when you're sure something will happen, life takes you by surprise and you have to move on with it... or you'll be left behind. 

   That things never last for a lifetime but they can be fixed. Or replaced.

   That people want you to listen and you want them to listen as well. Do that by taking turns or you'll end up in a mess you created yourself.

   That great effort is always rewarded. If not by others at least by yourself. You'll feel awesome!

   That you'll want your days to be longer but they'll always seem too short. Pick whatever will help you say "What an awesome day!" when you go to sleep.

   That you won't understand everything that happens to you. But you don't have to. Accept everything that comes in your life. There will be times when you'll be frustrated, but remember, there's a lesson for you at every corner.

    That you can always find a reason to be grateful. You just have to close your eyes and think.

   That there are hundreds or thousands of books written exactly for you that are waiting to be discovered. Look for them and they'll reveal themselves to you.

   That lost time doesn't come back so think about leaving something behind. Memories, photos, diaries. Record your life somewhere. You'll be thankful to rediscover it in some years.

   That money don't bring happiness. It's all in your head. You can craft or recycle instead of buying. Just use your imagination.

   That people need to be reminded how important they are to you. So let them know. 

   That if you want something, want it badly and it will come true. Be careful what you wish for, though. 

   That fear, guilt and anger will only bring bad consequences. Be at peace with yourself and with others. 

    That life is worth being explored, enjoyed, lived to the fullest. So do it! Do it now!:)

Day 342. Seems like forever

   Time flies. Then it suddenly stops and for a while it forgets to move on because you found something that makes you happy and it doesn't want to steal it from you. After some time It tries to step carefully ahead, as slowly as possible, to let you linger on your moment of happiness. Then it moves on naturally on its path and sometimes you both go hand in hand with it. You and your inner happiness:) 

   It's 4 years now since our beautiful love story began somewhere near a lake on a summer night. And it's still growing, just like a child. We'll continue to raise our love the way it raised us until now: with honestly, trust, communication and generosity. The beautiful thing is that we didn't have to try a tad bit to make it what it is today. It all came naturally like it was there since the beginning of times and we just had to meet at the right time and in the right place. I always felt it was like that. And even if it's been mostly sunny around us, we learned to stay cuddled up under an umbrella each time there was a stormy weather around. 

   Look at us now!:) We're 4. I can't imagine sharing my life with anybody else. And I can't wait to see what lays ahead. Because I know that with him by my side, I can face anything. And I'll do that knowing that whatever happens he will be my shoulder to cry on, my right arm, my everything:) 

I love you, honey!

Day 336. Let's shake the dust

   The day before a long awaited trip is always full of emotions both good and bad. On one hand you're filled with enthusiasm, you can't wait for time to pass more quickly and you're making plans in your head about how awesome the trip is going to be, but on the other hand you're anxious because you feel there's too little time to organize everything so you're afraid you'll forget something or you think that maybe you won't wake up when the alarm clock will ring. And that's exactly what's awesome about trips:) Oh, not to mention you'll probably not sleep the night before. It always happens to me:)

   Long awaited trips make life worth living. They put a huuuge smile on your face and make you happy even before reaching your destination because you already know you'll come home with some amazing memories you'll hold onto for the whole year to come and that they will be the ones to give you energy until the next awesome trip. 

   Tomorrow I'm heading for Sibiu to attend one of the most awaited concerts of my life (Within Temptation). I can't wait to feel like heaven is a place on earth again:) 

Day 328. Fairytales

   Friends are like books. They open our eyes to a world were no matter what happens, the ending is always happy. They help us find ourselves and they're always so entertaining to be around. We daydream with them and when we're down they bring us up and sometimes we're down together because we feel exactly what they feel and sharing the pain is always easier when there's two. They are the stories that we don't want to end. 

   We meet some of them when we're kids and our friendship goes on forever even if we change in time. Others are first our classmates, the only ones we'll keep in touch with even after school ends, the ones we'll invite to our wedding and the same ones we'll walk our babies with. And then there are the friends who step in our world later, when we least expect. The kind of friends who remind us that being ourselves is awesome because they are just like us. The kind of friends you don't see every day but when you do meet time stops for you and happiness is all around. The friends that remind us that

   I wuv you, Laura! You showed me that being lovey dovey and overly hugging is Ok. You reminded me that love can save the day so that's why I keep spreading it ^^ Thank You, cupcake! <3 I'm so glad I met you!

Day 302. Stuck... or not

   We all have our addictions. We're so used to them that they become part of who we are and we don't even think if they're good or bad for us. We just have them cos they make our life prettier... for some reason. 

   There comes a moment in our life when we somehow discover that some of those addictions are actually bad for our existence. And we realize that we have to, you know, say our goodbyes and move on without them. But we're not mentally prepared to "break up" with them all of a sudden. Nobody expects that, anyway. 

   The thing is that after a while of not living with those bad addictions we have a moment of enlightenment. The moment when we realize that we can live without them just as well, that we don't really need to spend our money or time on them and that our life can be just as pretty as it used to. 

   So that's the moment when we wake up from our oblivion and start seeing us for who we really are: strong and powerful human beings who can live life without being addicted to something. 

   Sure, we'll miss the bittersweet feeling of eating the forbidden fruit, but we all know we're better off without it. So put on your best smile and move along:)

Day 208. Running against time

   Do you know that kind of days when you have SO MANY things to do that you have to split yourself to be able to do them all? Today was one of them.

   I'm a curious case. On one hand I like having a full schedule because that involves helping people and not having time to get bored, but on the other hand I don't like to be controlled, to know that I have to get there and do this or that. Some days I just love my free time... Today I loved being a busy bee, but at some point I really wished I had Hermione's Time Turner. That way I wouldn't get all confused at the end of the day and double analyse everything that happened:)

    Don't we all try to run against time? And doesn't it often outrun us and leave us behind? What do you do then? Scream and shout? Cry or break down? Or do you stand firm and use your synapses to their maximum? 

   I ran against time today and I beat it:) The victory doesn't involve fame or money but the satisfaction of knowing that everything was taken care of, that people are happy around me and that I'm good psychologist. I don't know about you, but that's what I want to reach and that's why outrunning time feels so sweet:)

Day 148. That awesome feeling

   ... of weekend, of time expanding and of the warm springy air all around you:) That awesome feeling when you don't have to rush anywhere because you know you've got all the time in the world to yourself! You can sleep through the morning, wake up and have brunch, read a really catchy book and then continue relaxing. How I missed this feeling:) 

       Welcome, dear weekend!:)