When it Rains... things get wet... for a bit...

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer... and when it rains, it pours right?

But what about when things are going well? Where are all the sayings about people whose success and happiness build? Maybe a good old 'smile and the world smiles with you' will help us see that things do go our way if we chose to see them that way.

A major change in my relationship, at first, was rough. It was a difficult time for me, I was hurting a bit, but I did my best to see the other amazing things in my life instead of dwelling on that. Now that that rough patch has passed, I have found that the results of the big change have rendered my relationship even more caring. Things that used to get to me have magically solved themselves, and disagreements that used to happen, just aren't there.

I'm not saying everything is perfect, there is still hard stuff out there, but I am coming to trust that there is a silver lining. This isn't new for me, it's not a big revelation, but I have seen it enough times now that I really can trust that something better will come of the things that happen to me, and that I can chose to be happy about that or complain about the way in which they come.

My vegan journey is rarely about food. Yes I am looking into recipes, yes I have to research iron-rich foods to keep away the triple threat of iron deficiency being a 1)female, 2)training athlete and 3)non-meat eater. Yes I had to buy a bottle of B-12. But really, this has become a journey of the other things in my life that I need to confront.

I have to reign in my emotions when I really want my boyfriend to try this because I think his racing and training would benefit hugely, and his times would drop, and he would have more energy... but I know that telling him to do things rather than asking is the fastest way to get him to do the opposite. And through this I really need to understand that everyone is at a different place on their journey and who am I to pull someone off their trail and onto mine.

I have to confront the parts of myself that my ego showcases. Sharing this journey with love and education, rather than getting up on a soapbox.

I have to really challenge some of the assumptions I have made about how my life has to be... reading books like Lynn Twists 'Soul of Money' has really made me think about how I want my life remembered. I assume that more is better, and like this book has shown me, that is painfully untrue. I am learning that quality over quantity and fulfillment rather than filling are some of the things that will bring me happiness on this journey.

I have also learned lately that distance can damage relationships. I wish that an 'I miss you' text could really convey the heartbreak of the fact that I can't see your smile or hear your laugh or feel your amazing energy surround me with unconditional love. If only we had some kind of mind reading ability where every time someone thought of you, you got a little view into that thought, then maybe you would understand how often thoughts of our amazing times together really do flit through my brain.

This has nothing to do with not eating animals except that I have realized that love for your world goes into everything. Yes, very hippie, but that love that I have for myself to have pride and self-confidence is the same love I have for animals, is the same love I have for my family, and the same love I have for the extended family that we call friends.

I don't think any of these things have anything to do with each other, and at the same time they are inseperable.

So next time it rains for you, thank to universe for watering your soul so it can grow past where it is, even if that growth spurt hurts a bit.