A SIMPLE THOUGHT

I come to you with a simple thought today... brought to you through the words of a friend, shared with me during a time that my heart was really hurting.

There are people in this world who just feel good when they are hurting others. We can't be like that. Sometimes the best thing we can do when we are hurt, or when those we love are being attacked, is to hold our heads high and exert as much kindness as we can find.

A simple thought.

Sometimes hard to live out.

But one of the best lessons I've learned.

THURSDAY TALES: JUNE 17TH

Dalia sat in the middle of her bed, wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe, and stared at the dress across the room.  The fabric was a creamy white with champagne-colored flowers sewn around the bodice and down the skirt.  She loved the way it skimmed her hips when she walked.  It wasn't the full poufy princess dress that she saw in the bridal magazines, but it was what she had picked for her wedding.

June 17th.  This was the day that she and Landon had selected for their wedding date, and June 17th was today.

Dalia thought back to the day she had first met Landon. The sun had shone that day, but a spring rain had fallen. She sat in a crowded coffeeshop, her college books strewn around her as she studied, when a handsome young man with brown hair that curled just so over his forehead asked if he could sit with her.  That had been the beginning.  He had smiled down at her, and her heart had been lost.

She stood now and let the robe fall from her shoulders.  Stepping naked to the dress, she shimmied into it, once more revelling in the way the fabric slid over her skin.  She stepped into the matching shoes.  Then, she sat on the bed and waited.

A knock on the door sounded, and her sister's voice asked, "Dally?  Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," she answered. "Come in."

The door cracked, and her sister Kelly peeked in.  "Oh Dally," her eyes widened.  "You can't wear that. You just... you can't."

Dalia stepped to the mirror, placed a black veil atop her head, and answered quietly. "I bought it for today. I will wear it for today."  She stepped past her sister without a glance and left the room.

June 17th was also the day of Landon's funeral.

THURSDAY TALES: POISON

The forest was thick. The sky was fading to dark.  The wall in front of me was smooth and high.  Very very high, and it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in both directions.  It would take me days to walk around it, and I didn't have days. My best friend, Reese, rested two miles back on the forest path, an arrow through his stomach, and the only medicine in this forest was on the other side of the wall.

"Caitlin, no," he'd protested.  But I couldn't just let the only friend I've ever known perish, could I?

I'd never been on the other side of the wall. I don't think I even knew anyone who had, but the tales and legends of magic and medicine were known to us all.  But how to get through?  I couldn't get around it.  There were no gates, and the surface was as smooth as polished stone. I didn't think I could climb it, either.

Sitting on a fallen log, I dropped my head into my hands and tried to find a solution.

"You could always use the door, you know." The voice made me jump.  It came from a little man, not more than four feet tall. His face was weathered from untold years, and his brown hair out in tufts underneath his faded green hat.

"What door?"

"There." He gestured impatiently behind him and I suddenly noticed a little yellow door at the base of the wall.  "Little" being the operative word here.  It couldn't have been more than 18 inches high.

"I appreciate the help," I began. "But, I think that's a little small for me."

He smiled not unkindly. "As you are, of course. But if you drink the potion..." he trailed off, a bottle and key in his hand.

I leaned forward and plucked the bottle from his hand.  It was a pretty crystal container, with a rich pink liquid inside.  I read the label that accompanied it.  "Mr....?"

"Daythan. Just Daythan" he provided.

"Daythan... Is this some sort of trick?  This says its 'poison.' It doesn't seem like it'd be very safe."

"The world isn't very safe, Miss. Poison is relative, anyway.  It's only poison if you aren't immune to it. Why, you might call the air of your fair city 'poison,' wouldn't you?" He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "And yet your folk seem to live in it.  The words you speak to each other?  Poison of another variety.  And you survive."

I quirked a smile at him. "And the poison that comes in a bottle marked POISON?  I'm supposed to believe that's just fine?"

"It's only poison to the weak, to those who aren't braver than their fears.  But to the courageous? The strong?  Those who have the resolve to resist its powers?  They can withstand the dangers.  The question is...  are you one of them? Young Reese awaits."

Indeed.  Was I one of them? I didn't feel particularly strong and courageous.  I felt afraid. I felt worried. I felt helpless. I plucked the key from Daythan's hand, popped the top of the bottle, and drank.  Sometimes you had to have more faith in what could be than in what you feared.

DON'T WAIT

Why do we wait? Why do we hold back? Why do we let fear stop us from saying the things our hearts beg us to say?

The things that are sweetest, the things that are kindest, the things that are the most meaningful, the things that are the most real... these are the things we keep locked up.  These are the things we allow the possibility of embarrassment, the fear of rejection, to keep silent.

We are given so few years on this earth.  So few.  And every moment is a gift that could be the last one.

Too often, it is the I'm mad at you's and the how could you do that's which we give voice to...  and we keep hidden all the I love you's and the you are special to me's and the I really admire you for's.  

Don't wait.  Today.  Give voice to your heart.  

Don't be afraid.

WORD OF THE DAY: HOPE

Sometimes hope is all we have to hang onto. That can be a blessing.  When all else fails us, we still have that hope.  It's the last thing we can cling to and there are times when we really need that.

When the road is long and hard, it's hope that gets us out of bed in the morning. It's hope that allows us to face the day of uncertainty and hardship. And it's hope that lets us forge ahead because maybe today will be the day that it all comes together.

I believe in hope. It's powerful and it's important and it changes things.

But, sometimes it seems so small and paltry.  Because sometimes you know that hope really is the only thing you're holding onto, and that under that thin layer of hope lies a whole lot of fear.

But you hang on anyway when it's the only thing that you have.