Thursday's 10: Being Single is NOT a Disease

So Thursday's 10 is going to look a tad different today. I am going to tell you a story first... get ready!! Also, check out my lovely Lora's blog as I am linking this up with hers!

Story time! In the past weeks, I have had so many people (all on their own might I add you) feel sorry for me. Since most of these conversations were by texting, I received more of a virtual pat on the head. One you might see given to a sad little puppy dog. Do I look like a dog? If you are my enemy, please do not answer that question. Let me give you an example of a texting conversation I had with a good guy friend I went to high school with several weeks ago(sorry if you are reading this....yes i am using you as blog bait. hate me?):

FRIEND: "So, are you dating anyone yet"

ME: "The answer is the same it was when you asked me 3 days ago. No, I am not"

FRIEND: "I am so so sorry. I just feel horrible for you, and I wish there was something I could do"

ME: "Um, excuse me?"

FRIEND: "You are just too pretty of a girl to be single. You are amazing, and it seems like you are a waste of an awesome, and beautiful girl. It's just a waste of a life Tash"

ME (boiling, bubbling, fuming, and any other word that reminds you of fire and the color red.. but not the good red): "WHAAAAAAAAATTTT. You can not be serious"

FRIEND: "Why would I not be serious? It is true. A girl like you does not need to be alone. It is a waste, and I hate to see you live this kind of life. You are alone"

ME: "First of all, being single is not a disease! It is not a horrible life, I do not cry myself to sleep all night. There is nothing wrong with being single, and I have an amazing life, that I am very thankfully. Lastly, I am going to stop talking to you for a little bit, because if I don't I will drive to your house and punch you in the face"

This was not my first encounter with conversations such as this (but it I had to take several breathes to chill out after speaking with him). As I have been in a few relationships, I have also been single at times as well. Although, these conversations are getting more and more. I thought Harding was bad about this (and believe me... it was), but something about being 25 is making it worse. People are so concerned about me. Is it wonderful being in a relationship with someone you love? Well, sometimes. Is it lonely being single? Well, sometimes. Can you find true joy and happiness in both situations? Yes. yes. yes. oh and yes again! Honestly, I would be irked with this single or not. I know most of my readers are NOT single, and this is honestly not a post about man hating, or being pro single or not. It is how you can be happy and have joy WHEREVER you are in life. Single, married, divorced, separated, whatever... you can have a full life in any season. Bad or good. Now for 10 random quotes about life, some apply to this post and some do not. Who cares really? Obviously, not me :) Really this post was just an excuse to tell you a story, so IF YOU MUST.. you can skip the quotes :). Find joy today... single or not. No matter where you are... there is a plan, and you are not a waste of a beautiful life... get on with it!

1."My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate"--Thornton Wilder

2. “People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.”
- Audrey Hepburn

3."Everybody wants to be fancy and new. Nobody wants to be themselves. I mean, maybe people want to be themselves, but they want to be different, with different clothes or shorter hair or less fat. It's a fact. If there was a guy who just liked being himself and didn't want to be anybody else, that guy would be the most different guy in the world and everybody would want to be him."
— Donald Miller

4.“It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn't call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace…God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through”
- Francis Chan

5.The unoccupied fields of the world await those who are willing to be lonely for the sake of Christ.
-Samuel Zwemer

6.“Think about it. If you are single, after graduation there isn’t one occasion where people celebrate you … Hallmark doesn’t make a “congratulations, you didn’t marry the wrong guy” card. And where’s the flatware for going on vacation alone?" -Carrie Bradshaw

7.Meredith Grey: Intimacy is a four syllable word for, "Here's my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger, and enjoy."

8.Everyday brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes and dance.

9."Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work" Mother Teresa

10. If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
-C.S. Lewis

Thursday's Ten: the one on FORGIVENESS

If you have read my blog at all or if you know anything that is going on with me.. you would know that I am in a season of so many things and times in my life. One being a season of forgiveness and healing. So why not do a Thursday's Ten on random facts, thoughts, quotes, and musings of forgiveness? Warning: this is a VERY simple post on forgiveness due to my lack of time, and very jumbled... so forgive me? Not my best work.. oh well :)

1. If you do not forgive you are really only hurting yourself. They are not hurting, heck they have probably moved on and have possibly even forgotten about you or whatever has happened between you. SO forgiveness is so key to healing on all levels. You can not heal, nor grow, nor move on without it.

2. Forgiveness (even for those of us blessed with the gift of Mercy, and blessed ABUNDANTLY with it) is sometimes just plain, sticking hard! I personally could have never even started on this journey of forgiveness and healing with out God... He carries me when I just want to lay on the floor and cry, or when I just want to be a witch to people. It is amazing what happens in my life when I allow the Spirit (or when He just comes in anyway) to move and work in my life.

3. Forgiveness is not about forgetting. The whole forgive and forget thing... would be nice, but that is not really what forgiveness is about. We are after all somewhat human. It is about releasing someone from what they have done to you, and releasing someone from the chains that YOU have allowed them to have on you. (After note... I wrote MOST of this awhile ago and this week saw something on a friend's status about this.. love how the Holy Spirit works in all things)

4. "Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part" -Philip Yancey. This is so true. God's grace does flow to all of us, and especially the lowest... so why can I not practice even a fraction of this?

5. Forgiveness is NOT about letting people walk all over you, and if you think it is... you missed the point. You can have a balance, which is something I am really trying to let God change in me. I often confused the 2. You will still live in the chains people have put around you if you do. You do not even have to speak to the person you forgive again. That person may not even be alive.

6. "To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover that prisoner was you" Lewis B. Smedes

7."Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk. If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator. Forgiving seems almost unnatural. Our sense of fairness tells us people should pay for the wrong they do. But forgiving is love's power to break nature's rule." ~Lewis B. Smedes

8."Without forgiveness life is governed by... an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation"~Roberto Assagioli which goes along with one of my favorite songs of all time by Coldplay (surprised?). Death and All His Friends:

"No I don't wanna battle from beginning to end;
I don't wanna cycle, recycle revenge;
I don't wanna follow death and all his friends".

9. Learn to forgive yourself. If you can not even learn this.. it makes it much harder to forgive others. I am learning to do this daily. Learning to accept God's mercy, God's grace, God's love, and God's beautiful forgiveness in my own life. Something that does NOT come easily for me. I often have an inkling to think that I am being "punished" for my past mistakes. In reality my Father does not act that way, because that is an inertly human behavior that we have created for ourselves in our sin and guilt that has arisen.

10. a little less serious.. I know I posted this song yesterday, but it really came to me at the perfect time!

I've been trying to live without you now
But I miss you, baby
The more I know, the less I understand
And all the things I thought I figured out, I have to learn again
I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter
But my will gets weak
And my heart is so shattered
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

All the people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
Better put it all behind you; cause life goes on
You keep carrin' that anger, it'll eat you up inside

Thursday's 10: Songs I am loving Now

SO.. jumping on another band wagon thanks to a few blogs I have been and in particular my friend Lora's! As many of you know, I am a music lover. Just a little :). So, for my first Thursday's 10.. I thought I would generously grace you with 10 of the songs I am enjoying in my life right now. I know i did the What I am loving Wednesday, but I wanted to love something on Thursday too.. okay? Happy Thursday!! :)

1. Adele's Rolling in the Deep. I. love. it. Can't. get. enough!

2. Avett Brothers, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise

3. Mumford and Son's The Cave

4. Brandon Heath , Your Love

5. Tenth Ave. North, You Are More

6. Arms Wide Open Misty Edwards

7. I Still Care For You Ray Lamontagne

8. Sara Bareilles Breathe Again

9. Shawn McDonald Closer

10. Weezer The Girl Got Hot :)