beautiful and no truer words have been spoken.

Thank you :0)

pretty much all good advice there

Thanks Rick :)

Wonderful post!

Thank you sir. :)

It's amazing how much of this type of advice and common sense but to learn to actually PRACTICE IT in your every day life you still have to play the fool on alot of it once or twice :).

The person who you're most blind to is many times yourself.

Very true.

This is good advice *noddlenod*

I shall learn from your wisdom!

Hehe well I still trying to let alot of my own advice sink in. I can be very dense and stubborn at times lol. I tend to repeat old mistakes . I'm too forgiving and kind for my own good. I sometimes think if be better off if I was more selfish and less caring. It's sad but that's how I've been feeling lately. It's sorta one of those "nice guys finish last" experiences for me as of late. But at any rate It is my hope that some of my life experiences and observations might help some other people as its hpwd me in the past. :).

You look so young!

Hehe yeah most people think I'm like 28 or 35. I'm actually 42. Yeah I'm old I know hehe. This is why my viewpoints are a bit old fashion :0P

I used to not like saying how old I was because I've had some people not talk to me simply because I'm much older than them. Silly but true. I started taking my own advise an stopped trying to meet up to people's expectations.

Sound advice - thanks!

*nod-nods* Very true words here, and ones that I attempt to live by every day. And yeah, couldn't agree more on friendships...I sometimes equate it to a crap-shoot...you win some, you lose some. It's all fun and games until life suddenly gets real...then you find out real quick who sticks around and who doesn't. But then again, life is like that. It's a gamble. We roll the dice everyday, hoping they land us somewhere soft and fluffy, however, that doesn't always happen. And when you find yourself knocked down on that hard pavement, that's ususally when integrity really counts. Remembering who is still standing next to me, staying true to my principles, and my loyalty to those friends is what gets me back up and moving forward. :)

Yeah I can relate there I tend to be too trusting and too quick to try and make friends and that tended to get me hurt a lot. It's sort of a harsh realization when you find yourself with your back against the wall and there's no one there to turn too I sorta had that happen to me several time. Recently I found myself facing a potential life and death situation (Doctor told me Ii may have congestive heart failure) it was then i realized sitting in the hospital bed before my surgery I found myself alone, with not a single person there to turn to. Felt like if i had died there no one would even know or care if i was gone It was such a terrible terrible feeling. My perspective changed that day on how I saw and felt about some people. All I can say is that you quickly find out who your friends when you go through your darkest times. Trust me on that one.

Oh believe me hun, I know. I've grown a hard shell around my heart over the years, and I don't let anyone past that shell. I have people I consider friends, and I have ones that I consider aquaintances, most of which fall under the latter category. Only a select few I have allowed close enough to consider decent friends, but still, none of whom have ever been allowed to glimpse every inch of the true heart that beats beneath my shell. Sometimes I wonder if I should just remove the shell and expose every ounce of my being, because I fear it may hinder me from ever being able to love someone fully. But doing so would mean exposing all of my weaknesses, free to be exploited by those who might wish to hurt me. And so the shell remains until hopefully, someday, the right person will posess the key to unlock it (at age 27, I'm developing some doubts though...).

And believe it or not, I was watching your journals/page closely when you went into the hospital for surgery those months ago, as I'm sure other were doing as well. I assure you, you weren't completely alone (although, I know all too well what it feels like to be afraid for your life, and you look around to see that there is nobody there to physically give you that comfort). It's a horrible feeling, and one I wish on no person to have to experience. *hugs*

Yeah it's a tough think to expose ones heart especially when you're so used to people breaking it. That's the trade off I suppose. To be open to be vulnerable. I don't think I will ever be able to do that. I know how ya feel tho. I often have a bad habit of living by the "Golden Rule" and treating others the way you'd like to be treated. Sadly that seems to be a recipe for getting yourself used by people. I always try to be kind and respectful and think of others feelings and needs in consideration. " how would they feel if...,", remembering birthdays and special occassion etc. but most of the time it ends up being one sided. Always on the giving end but never on the receiving end of friendship. That's been my experience with most of my friendships even recently. Then if ya dare to speak up or complain, they toss ya aside for the next best thing and ya end up feeling like an empty soda can on the side of the road and feeling like an idiot for caring so much. Lots of resentment and regret too.

People now a days are all about the disposable friendship. Get what you can then once you can get no more or it require them to put some effort or recipricate its so much easier for them to just move on to the next and "cut their losses" I know that sounds cynical but that's been my experience with people who have been my "friends" My situation with my recent health issues showed me where I stood with a lot of "friends" most now just ignore me or have stopped talking to me all together. Guess the jig is up.

Personally, I have no family and all I have are the friends I have made here in the fandom. I don't think people understand how alone one can feel in the world when you have no family or support structure when you're going through something like what I went through in June. I don't think I was expecting much for people who claimed to be my closest friends to at least call or see if I was still alive etc. some did call and email but there were others that I thought would that never said a word to me even to this day. I think that's what changed my viewpoint about people. Don't get me wrong I don't blame any one here I think my expectations of what I perceived as friendships were really more aquaintences. I guess I was more disappointed to realize I had more aquaintences than close friends. For that I can fault them for my own stupid assumption. Nevertheless it was a very depressing realization at the time.

Thankfully in the past few months I've had more clarity in alot of things and people Now that I keep people In perspective it's easier for me not to be disappointed. Problem solved.

These are some of the hardest life lessons I've learned. Becareful who you trust with your heart and who you call a friend. Unfortunay that's one lesson in life I'm still trying to learn. It at least Its encouraging to know I'm not the only one who has felt this way. :/

I hope you will find peace in your situation too *hug*

*smiles and shows teeth* I love all of these leassons and belive it or not I have been though most if not all of them and yours words ring true in my mind and I think I need to find who my true friends are because I always try to be there for others and I spend so much time on the I never really have anyone there for me...............and btw like the new Avatar XD

Thank you :). Yeah it is my hope people will learn the value of quality of life vs fast and easy. I've learned the hard way in may instances Don't get me wrong I'm not perfect nor do I always make the right decisions but I've learned one thing in life is that anything that's worth value doesn't come easy and you always appreciate things and people more when they are something you worked to obtain and maintain. I've made a ton of mistakes in my travels and in some cases they have cost me more than I care to think about. but in the end the only thing that remains are the things with substance and weight :).

*nods head* yah i just try to make the right descions and i will take pride in all my desicions but then again im not afraid to say i was wrong in any instance i just wanna live the short life i have and go out wiht a bang and have fun while doing it all

Thats an admirable viewpoint i can agree with that. :o)

Solid advice. Noted. :D

Thank you :)

You're 42? I though you were closer to my age XP Seriously, very good advice

Hehe yeah, the secret is out lol. It wasn't something I tended to make known but yeah I'm 42. :0P

Fantastic advice Balto :) Isn't it amazing how much truth and honest communication can nip most drama and angst in the bud?

Indeed. :)

wow so true