Life As I Know It

"So what did you buy?" – I asked. I found myself accompanying a friend to return some unwanted items. "This" - and she proceeded to pull out a Bad yellow version of a cashmere sweater. "It’s… It’s… … … What where you thinking?" "I’m not exactly sure… it seemed like a good idea when I bought it." "And then?" "And then I put it on…" I laughed. "You know what I wish?" She said sighing. "What?" "I wish all things in life were returnable… like men" And I laughed… Shopping can bring instant gratification. Buying something new, something you like, brings happiness to any dedicated shopper. Instant gratification. The beginning of a relationship, or getting to know someone, has the same effect. But try it on for size, walk a mile in the shoes, try to zip up the dress and you might find yourself sighing and facing disappointment. In shopping if you lose your heart to something that is wrong for you, you can...

“Love is like a game of poker. You have to know when to “all in” and when to back out or else you’ll lose everything.” My friend read from the back of her Starbucks cup. “That’s funny” “What if you don’t know how to play poker?” “You don’t know how to play poker?” “No.” “Then you “Go fish”’ And we laughed as we discussed the rules of poker. Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. When it comes to falling in love you cannot approach it cautiously. It will not wait for you to arm yourself. Love, like gambling, has risks involved. In fact Love might be the greatest of all risks. Maybe that’s why some people thread slowly through life. Avoiding the closeness risk brings. Never taking chances out of fear of losing everything. Never realizing that by not taking those risks they lose their chance to win at love. “You should never gamble what you’re not willing to lose” Someone told me that once. No one should gamble away their opportunity at love. But there are those who risk lo...