Flashback Fridays: Sunday Edition

As you have noticed, I am not very good at following a formulation. So I have to make exceptions to the rule (and since it is my blog, I can do what I want!)

Two reasons why this post did not appear on a typical Flashback Friday:
1) The friday did not conincide with the actual anniversary of this event
2) I was busy on Friday

With that said, my Flashback Friday is taking place on my special 6 year anniversary.


Six years ago, my life changed. Most people will say that of 2001 with 9/11, however, my life altering event happend on July 31. Up until that day, I was living my life as any young person would - taking for granted many things: family, work, life in general. I was invincible...too young to think about death's doorstep, and the implications of what it means to value what is really important in life. My life would no longer be consumed with self gratification.

I learned that what I do with my life directly impacts those around me. My family, my friends, my community. I was given an opportunity to re-evaluate my life ...a second chance to make changes to my life that can positively effect things that are important to me...how many people can honestly say that?

My mother, an integral part of my life, was there by my side the entire time during this crisis of life. My rock. My reason for being the man I am...the woman I could only hope to emulate in my life through my actions and deeds. Though I have made many mistakes in my life up to this point, my mother was always there by my side. This day was no different. Through her love and support (and the love and support of my family and friends) I was able to come through on the other side...become a better person, live life to its fullest, celebrate family and the joys (and sometimes heartaches) that come with it, and to make plans for the future.

This day determined the rest of my life and the path I was going to take. I decided to quit my job (one that I loved until my company was bought by a competitor), take on additional responsibilities with a new job- moving me about 300 miles away from my family to Detroit, MI, while ever aware that my time with my family and friends would be more precious and sacred as never before. I decided to quit being a teenager at heart when it came to adult relationships - I had been "playing the field" keeping my boyfriend at arms length while searching for something that I realized was right in front of me - the love of my life: Steve.

I woke up. I was alive. I was alive for the first time in my life. I was no longer going to take for granted the gifts that God has blessed me with. With that discovery - I soon learned that I was no longer going to allow my job to define me as a person... I needed to have a balance. No longer would I sit back and allow life to pass me by. I was the one with the power to change my life - to do what I needed to do in order to celebrate my life to its fullest. It gave me power. It gave me hope. It gave me...LIFE.

You see how I end each post: "Peace.Love.Live." This is my montra. What I try to do each and every day;
Pray for peace
Love my family, my friends, my partner (my life)
Live each day as if you will not have another chance.

This has changed me. Has made me whole. Thoug sometimes I wonder how my life would be if I never had this single event happen - I do not regret it - for I would not be the person I have become today without it.

This picture represents to me everything that life has to offer...my mom at my side, a second chance at life, and a chance to experience things that may never have come my way if I was not open to that possibility. Everything in life has a purpose, it is up to us to figure out how that purpose should be played out. My life changed on July 31. At the time - I thought I was dead, but 6 years later I have realized that life may be fragile, but it is forgiving.

A few quotes that I try to live by that may bring you some solace, some peace, some reason to make a difference in your life - like they have mine.

"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going" - Professor Irwin Corey

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." - William James

"Change your thoughts and you change your world." - Norman Vincent Peale

Peace.Love.Live.
JPB