What I've Learned

Over time, a person can learn so much from the past and present that hopefully one will be able to use that knowledge in the future. One can actually grow metaphorically as a person as the mistakes that he or she has made, can literally make someone stronger mentally and physically. For the fire within a person's soul will never burn out, it will continue to burn with a passion. Each lesson learned is a stepping stone to something much greater and that proverbial prize that is waiting for each of us, is so close at hand.

I've learned so many things as one passes from child to adult. One thing that I have learned is that I have potential to be a father. For as the saying goes "Like father, like son." It's simply the student learning from the teacher, the teacher being my own father. He never gave up on me as I made my own mistakes and continues to have my back until my days as a parent comes. It's that gratitude and respect that I show him that will hopefully be given back to me and to generations to come.

I've learned that in my reality, it's all about making the best decisions possible in a place that can burn out a person mentally. Life is all about making important decisions and at a certain point, one will stand at a crossroads in which the decisions he or she makes will determine the rest of that person's life. I've made many decisions within my own life, some good, some bad, and others somewhat questionable. It's my defining moments which taught me that with the decision I make, I must be prepared for the consequences to follow.

I've learned within the past 8 years that I have a connection with kids. It's that child-like mentality that I really never turned my back on, in manner of speaking, that I have a special bond with these kids. They have continually seen me as their friend and not some person who gets paid taking care of them. As I look at them, I can see myself when I was their age. Basically, I'm still a kid at heart, though I am getting older, but getting a bit wiser. For when it's my time to leave, what will my legacy say about me?

Lastly, I have learned that you have to put aside your fear when wanting to seek a relationship with someone; but when you see people around you break up then it gives you second thoughts. Oftentimes, it is hard to walk up to someone you are truly interested in and tell how you feel, which is the biggest problem I have. In all honesty, I don't know if I can ever put aside that fear but if I'm willing to do it for the woman of my dreams someday. In the end. my dream will come true and that one person will be on the other side of that door, it's just a matter of asking her to come in.

What Do You Want

Each one of us has or have had somewhat of a checklist of what they want in a significant other. It can be either an extensive or short list of qualities that a particular person is looking for. A person can be somewhat picky and one can oftentimes set his or her standards high in trying to find that one person who fits some or all the criteria. If you think about it, women more so than men, have that long list of specific qualities that she is looking for. In retrospect, every person should set a high standard in order to find that one person who can, in some way, balance you out. It's that balance that will ultimately lead you to that one person who one has been waiting for.

In some cases looks will always be a constant, when one looks for that diamond in the rough so to speak. A person can sometimes be misguided in what he or she is wanting in a potential relationship. Sometimes, the standards that one has set for one's self can be completely thrown out the window. One can't avoid it no matter how hard he or she tries. For a person's brain can completely shut down when he or she meets that handsome man and/or beautiful woman. It can oftentimes be like High School all over again. In any case someone once said, "A relationship based on superficiality will eventually fade away and what a person will end up with are wrinkles.

In other cases, a person wants something deeper and more meaningful in a potential relationship. Every person has been in a relationship where it didn't feel right and it was all about him or her. We oftentimes have to ask ourselves will that person be able to make me laugh and when I talk to that particular person will time simply fly by? It's just some of the things a person wants to figure out and one of those ways to find out is through his or her friends. It has been said that you can know the personality of a person by the friends that he or she has. In a way, a person's own friends know you better than you know yourself.

However, a person will oftentimes ask themselves what they want more looks or personality, or both. Looks and personality, a deadly combination that is rare to find these days. If you think about it, most people truly know what they want out of potential or significant relationships. Others have no earthly idea and it can constantly change with every new person he or she meets in one's lifetime. Inevitably, a person can ask themselves what they want a hundred times over and still not come up with the right answer. In the long run, a person just has to figure out for themselves who or what will make that person happy.

Over the weekend, my brother and I were talking and he asked me straight up what I wanted in a relationship. I thought about it for several minutes and I came up with this answer. Basically, I want what everybody wants in a potential relationship and that is a person who I can basically click with. Someone who can be comfortable with being herself and doesn't have to put up an act around me. Someone who has a sense of humor and is able to laugh at herself. Someone who will always light up a room when she walks in and puts a smile on my face everytime I see her. In the end, those are the qualities that I want, so, I ask you this, what do you want?

Keep It Real

A person can sometimes be someone other than themselves when meeting someone that they are potentially interested in. It's like one's own mental capacity shuts down and for whatever reason their actions do not reflect who they really are. It can also be like that with friends as well. For a person can oftentimes revert back to one's own middle/high school days where stupidity ran rampant back in the day so to speak. Unknowingly, it can follow a person into one's adulthood without him or her knowing about it.

Every person has met that one person that literally made you nervous and speechless at the same time. It can be also said that one's brain completely shuts down and the heart takes over, which is not a good thing. A person can say and do some pretty idiotic things, but when one tries to rectify the situation, it only makes it much worse than it already is. First impressions are that proverbial key, which will either have that person smiling and laughing or have that person frowning and bored to tears.

First impressions are what sets each of us apart when one tries asking that girl or guy out on a date. Think back when you tried to call or talk to someone you liked, how did you act? Every person at one time another has had those first impressions in which the people liked what you were about, and then there were those first impressions that one would rather forget. It can sometimes be an embarrassing moment when a person has egg on their face so to speak, because in a way, it can either make you or break you.

One can sometimes feel that pressure of trying to make our lives interesting for the expressed purpose of impressing others. One will put up illusion after illusion in his or her life until that person doesn't know what's real anymore. A person can literally lose themselves by the people he or she is around. Someone once said, if one looks in a mirror long enough, that person will see his or her true self. He or she must find what's real within your heart and soul, then one can again recognize that person staring back at you.

A Dream Come True

Every person has at least prayed, wished, and/or wondered when the person of their dreams would come into their lives. For it's that one attainable person that he or she knows is out there, but where is unknown. We oftentimes set a high standard for ourselves for that person who somewhat haunts our subconscious, though we don't know who they are. It's those standards that are a blueprint of the girl or guy that each of us have been waiting for all our lives. A blueprint in which one looks for that so-called perfect person.

Yet, is there such a thing as that one perfect person out there for each of us. That faceless person who one has been dreaming about since the beginning of one's own teenage years. For we see faces everyday, nameless faces that we pass by on a daily basis without a thought. It's been said that the eyes on a person's face are the window to one's soul. Can one truly say that just by looking into that person's eyes, he or she is "the one?" Yes or no, that one look may turn that nameless face into a fulfilled dream.

Sometimes the person of their dreams can turn into a complete nightmare. Each of us can have that deluded perception that can actually "blind" a person. Blinded by the superficiality of that person and for whatever reason one can't seem to get past it and it's a mistake he or she regrets. For every person wants something much more deeper in a relationship than superficiality which gets old as we get older. If you think about it, a person will suffer several nightmares before having that one great dream come to pass.

As the saying goes, there are two sides to every story which may or may not have a happy ending. One has never really thought about how that person's life was like before each of us entered the picture so to speak. Two people, two stories, two different paths and yet searching for the same thing. In retrospect, we all start out incomplete and our stories are halfway done. But when we meet that one person who will wake us up from the constant nightmares we face, the stories that two people wrote separately will now be written together.

Someone once said, ~A person sometimes gives up what one wants most out of life and that is their dream. Yet, that dream will one day show up at his or her proverbial door and knock on the door whatever or whoever it may be.~ In the song, Unanswered Prayers by Garth Brooks, he says that God's greatest gifts are those unanswered prayers which can sometimes turn out to a blessing in disguise. That blessing in disguise will reveal itself unexpectedly as he or she steps into one's life and you know what, it will forever be a dream come true.

Generation To Generation

Working at a youth center or in the childcare profession, for that matter, can give a person insight. One often thinks about the potential he or she has in becoming a mother or a father. We all have parental instincts and it has been said that each of us will know what to do when our time comes. The characteristics that are passed down to parent and child can be quite frightening at times. For one day we look at the life that is created, and say in the immortal words of Dr. Evil, ~I shall call him Mini-me~.

There comes to mind the type of parent one wants to become in the future. Will each of us either be the strict disciplinarian that rules with an iron fist? Or will each of us be the laid back cool parent that goes for the acceptance of his or her child rather than the overbearing parent? In a way, one just has to find a middle ground of coolness and being firm. One tends to think that he or she will never become their parents but a person has to only look in the mirror to find out that you are them.

It basically comes full circle, everything that one's parents said to each of us back in the day, will absolutely be said to our kids one day. In a weird way, the sayings that were thought would never be uttered from our lips would actually be said. It can be a scary thought as one will eventually wave "the finger" and give "the look" to his or her own kids. For each of us will have that one moment of clarity and in the immortal words of Keanu Reeves' character Neo in the Matrix, we will simply step back and say, ~Whoa!~

For one will eventually realize that all the headaches and stress that we gave our parents will be passed on to us. A person has to give credit where credit is due to them as we pushed them to the limit mentally and physically. But they stuck by us no matter how foolish and idiotic we became because they loved us. In retrospect, they deserve our thanks as well as an apology for all the good times and hard times that we have given them. For what they gave up to make us happy, we should give back to them ten fold.

Though, those of us who aren't married or have kids of our own, working at a Youth Center, has given most of us, as counselors, somewhat of a hands-on approach of parenting 101 so to speak. In reality, it's not so much telling each of the kids you care, it's just words. It's just a matter of showing them that you care. In a way, I have learned more from them than they will ever know and hopefully the lessons learned will be taught one day to my kids. In the end, the values taught and characteristics we share will be passed on from generation to generation.

Let Go

Each of us carry baggage that can be connected with the past. A person can sometimes keep it close to him or her like a favorite blanket or stuffed animal which can be somewhat compared to a security blanket. In a way, that person holds on to those emotions which are a link to his or past. Emotions that are connected to past relationships and the feelings that it stirs up. It can be a tough and daunting task to move on with our lives as each of us try to bring back the smile that once graced our faces.

Death can play a big part in keeping the past close to one's own heart. One can go through many emotions when the person they truly cared about is taken away too soon. Emotions such as denial, confusion, anger, bitterness, utter contempt, acceptance, and most of all regret. Regret, it can always eat a person up inside to the point of going completely mad. For a person can beat themselves up for not saying those three little words that matter, and yet at time we are scared to say them until that person is taken away from us.

A person can metaphorically walk away and close the proverbial door to his or her heart. The wall that was once broken down is back up, but that person's heart is now guarded. He or she can literally feel dead inside as their reason to smile is now gone. It's like being trapped in total darkness and there is no sign of light to walk towards. The life that the person once knew has changed and one can feel lost. For the journey back to the light can either take days, months, or even years.

It has been said that things happen for a reason. Reasons that can't be explained during that particular time but undoubtedly will be answered when the time is right. At the time all a person wants to know is why. It's not so much why but rather why me. A person can oftentimes have that mentality that there will be a price to pay if he or she finds true happiness. One can't think that way, he or she just has to put themselves out there and open the proverbial door that once was proclaimed closed.

Life is all about second chances and surprises that it can bring to one's own doorstep so to speak. A person will eventually start a new life, as well as, a new relationship. Though the memories and experiences can never be replaced, he or she can make new ones. Someone once said, ~A person who passes away is never really gone. As long as you have him or her in your heart and in your mind they will continue to live on.~ In retrospect, we can only do one thing when it comes to the past and our heart and that is simply let go.

Reality

Each of our lives can seem to be interesting to others, but as the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. What if each of our lives were a reality show and that show would be somewhat compared to that hit MTV series Diaries. Though our lives may not be glamorous, it's our lives, take it or leave it. Oftentimes, the people we talk to sometimes think the lives we lead seem interesting and cool. A person just has to sit back, look, and simply say, "You think you know, but you have no idea.

My life is not so different from the rest of America's. I have a fun and interesting job that I go to each week and have friends and family that have my back. But it's the interesting things that happen in between that can be considered "great television". But what constitutes "great television" when it involves one's own life? For I have spent the last 8 years working at a Youth Center and within those 8 years countless stories can be told. Untold stories that can make a person either laugh or cry upon hearing it.

Tom Hanks’ character Forrest Gump once said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get". For that quote is so true, because in my line of work, nothing can truly prepare a person as he or she walks past a bathroom and here these words echoing from within, "See, mine is bigger than yours!" It's totally mind blowing what kids are capable of doing if left unsupervised for a long period of time. As it has been said, "Now I've heard and/or seen everything" a sentiment that I say over and over again.

Kids tend to fight as they often do and it's my job to step in to cool things down. For I have to be a negotiator, investigator, interrogator, enforcer, referee, judge, jury, and executioner while trying to be a peacekeeper. It can truly befuddle the human mind as the reasons why kids do what they do. Sometimes they don't have a reason and I just have to laugh at the comedy of it all and wonder if I'm being Punk'd. For any minute Ashton Kutcher is going to pop out and I come to the realization that I have just been had.

For a person can discover things about themselves that he or she has never known. Personally speaking, I discovered that I have a lot of patience dealing with kids but I also discovered that I don't make any sense when I get angry with them as well. For a guy's brain can't comprehend emotion and thought at the same time, we can only choose one. That's the life I chose to live folks and you know what, I have enjoyed every minute of it. I wouldn't want to trade my life with anybody else because the kids make it all worthwhile....most of the time. With or without cameras following me around, that's my reality.

Hero

A hero is defined as a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. People such as the police, fire fighters, and the United States military who risk their own lives and truly be called a hero. But could one consider the regular Joe and Jane Schmo in that particular category? For they can be known as an unsung hero For it's these "impact players", so to speak, that may not know they are making a difference in other people's lives.

Such impact players are teachers, for they mold the mind of future politicians, entrepreneurs, actors, actresses and the list goes on and on. Oftentimes the respect that should be received is never given and it's the price they pay for shaping the minds of America's youth. It's these people that push kids to their absolute limits in order to achieve something greater in their lives. Years down the road, that kid turned adult will consider that teacher a mentor and will never forget the valuable wisdom taught to him or her.

Another impact player(s) can be located in one's own home. A parent spends much of his or her life teaching them values that would hopefully one day be passed on to their children and future generation. For a parent can truly say they would literally give up their own life if their child was in danger. It wouldn't be an afterthought to that parent for their instincts are to protect what's most important to them and that is their kids. In a way, a parent isn't just a hero, for they can be considered a superhero.

Other impact players are the physically handicapped and how they persevered. Physical handicaps such as blindness, loss of limb, loss of hearing, and loss of sight. For it's these losses that make that particular person more determined to live one's life. That person has to simply adjust and the other limbs or senses kick into high gear in a manner of speaking and get stronger. Someone once said, the greatest obstacle one can face is losing something that oftentimes can be taken for granted, but gaining something much greater.

Lastly, the biggest impact player is a person that really doesn't know that he or she is a hero and that person is ourselves. A hero in the fact that each of us are comfortable with who we are and don't listen to what people think about them. Yet there are those that feed off what people think about them, but as the saying goes, be a leader and not a follower. At the end of the day, who are you more likely to listen to, the people or yourself? In the end, I ask you this question, Do you consider yourself a hero?

That One Reason

At a certain point in a person's life, he or she will find that one reason to start a brand new journey. A journey that has always been surrounded by friends and family that have been there for that person. But along the way, a person looks down that particular road that he or she travels on and wonders who is waiting for them at the very end. Sometimes the questions we seek never really have an answer and the only logical step is to continue traveling on the path we choose ourselves until we reach the end.

Sometimes the paths we choose don't necessarily lead to where we want to be in life. For we can oftentimes feel empty inside and that person has to decide for themselves what will truly make him or her happy. Though, it's not so much where a person wants to be exactly but who that person wants to be with. Sometimes a person doesn't need to think with his head but rather think with his or her heart. In other words, what does your heart say and every person knows what they want in life, it's just a matter of going after it.

We can sometimes feel like a drifter wandering down the highways and byways of life and the cars that pass us by makes each of us feel somewhat insignificant. It's like being invisible to the world and the only people that know we are "alive" are family and friends. In a way, we are all searching for that one special person who will pick us up and take us to some place new. It's that one person, who even though is going in a different path, is heading in the same direction.

One has to come to the realization that you can't go looking for someone that may or may not want to be found. As a matter of fact, that person will find you and it will happen when one leasts expects it. It has been said things happen for a reason and when it involves a person's heart no amount of explanation can solve it. One just has to go with the flow so to speak and let nature run its course. It's just a matter of being at the right place, right time, and bumping into that right person.

When you think about it, each of our journey's can be somewhat compared to chapters in a book. Each chapter chronicles our own personal history of where we have been and the people we have met along the way on our travels. There comes a time when we meet someone that will inspire each of us to fill the blank pages that are left. Pages that have been blank for quite some time and until now have a reason to be written on. In the end, who will be that one reason to inspire you to write the next chapter of your life?

The Most Valuable Commodity

In a way our lives can be compared to a bank and within that bank is a vault. A vault which protects endless amounts of money and valuable material possessions. Metaphorically speaking, each of us has a vault in which we keep our most treasured and priceless possessions. Possessions that you really can't hold in your hands and those would be one's memories, hopes, dreams, emotions, feelings, and most importantly one's own heart. One has to learn you can't keep your heart locked away forever, if you do, then you miss out on meeting that one special person that one will spend a lifetime with.

The memories that a person holds near and dear to his or her heart will be cherished for years to come. Those memories are like a record of the adventures and mischief one has been on. The places seen and been, the friends that have come and gone, the loves lost, and the loves found, are all kept in a safe place. For a person can't physically break into that vault and simply take what he or she wants, because the vault each of us have is simply impenetrable. Every person wants to be secure in the fact that their most treasured possessions will be passed on to the next generation as one approaches their golden years.

Oftentimes we closely guard our feelings and emotions to the point where a person can be perceived as greedy. For people can hide how they feel for that one person who he or she feels strongly about and not act on those feelings and emotions. It's one's past experiences that makes someone very protective and have a constant wall in front of them which can never be broken down. For it's a risky venture sharing pieces of one's self to total strangers that he or she hardly knows. Yet, as time goes by, those total strangers will eventually be someone important as both get to know each other personally, intellectually, and emotionally.

Thinking about it, every person wants that special someone to be the first and last face he or she wants to see. From the time one goes to bed and the time one wakes up, one will see that face and it's a face that you never want to forget. In retrospect, when we are born into the world, the first faces we see are the two people who love and care about us. When one eventually passes on, the last face one wants to see is the one person that has meant so much to you. For that last glimpse represents a priceless memory that can never be bought or sold, no matter how much money is waved in one's face.

Ultimately, each of us will have or has had their hearts "stolen" and no amount of security can prevent that from happening. With banks, there are always long lines, it's simply unavoidable. One can sometimes feel that he or she has been waiting in line a lifetime to be called up any time now by that one particular bank teller. In the end, there is one thing that is more valuable than money, less expensive than material possessions and one can be considered rich beyond his or her years. The most valuable commodity is love.

The Best Medicine

It has been said laughter is the best medicine when times of stress, sadness, turmoil, and death cross each of our paths. Laughter can be infectious and when one person gets"infected" it can cause a ripple effect. An effect similar to lining up dominos and when one falls the rest start falling. Each person has the unique ability to make people laugh but it takes a special person that can turn an ordinary chuckle into an all out gut buster. The type of gut buster in which a person has to change their shorts afterwards.

Every person has a sense of humor, but the question is what type of humor does each person have? It's really an unknown. One just has to find out for themselves. He or she has to find that inner comedian with themselves to share the joy of laughter with others. Such comedians as Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy,Bill Cosby, the list goes on and on and has made it a career making people laugh with their own style of humor. Whether it be crude, sarcastic, slapstick, observational,if it makes you laugh then their job is done.

Each and every person has had those days where everything goes wrong and the time it didn't seem funny to you. Bob Newhart once said, ~Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.~ Anyways, Laughing is like a defense mechanism in which we cover up our fears, sadness, anger, and other emotions. Most of us have learned to hide our emotions through laughter, but as the saying goes, ~What a person keeps bottled up inside, will soon rise to the top and reveal itself.

In any case, every person looks for distinct qualities in a potential relationship. The one thing all or most people are looking for is a sense of humor. One of the questions that has been asked many times is, ~Will "Ms./"Mr. Right" be able to make me laugh?~ It's one of the questions that he or she wants answered. It's that "x-factor" in which it can either make or break a person. It's that quality that can turn an uncomfortable situation into a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere where both people can enjoy each other's company.

Josh Billings said, ~Laughter is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one place.~ That principal place is in one's own heart and think about this, without laughter we would all go completely insane. Someone once said, ~You can't stay mad at somebody who makes you laugh. Whether you are in a relationship or not, laughter is truly the best medicine.~ I end this thought by saying this: Laugh and the world will laugh with you, cry and the world will just make fun of you and give you an atomic wedgie. :)

Chicken Soup

Every person has their similarities and differences, but the one similarity that each person shares is the love of music. One can't deny the effect the music industry has on people who listen to music on a day to day basis. Much of our daily lives are spent on the road going from point A to point B, but in between we listen either to the radio or our cd's. A song has the ability to transport each and everyone of us to the past and open up emotions one thought were long gone. But that's the power of a song, it can bring up the bad times, as well as the good times.

Each and every person has a song that means alot to them, a song that has sentimental value either from a past or current relationship. Though, sometimes hearing that particular song can bring up memories that either brings happiness, brings tears or brings memories that a person doesn't want to even think about at all. It's the meaning of the song that tugs at a person's heart strings because it can somehow relate to one's own life. All songs in a way describe a person's life but to what extent?

Songs can remind us of tragic events like 9/11 and the soldiers who died giving their lives for their country. Many songs graced the air waves during those trying times but there was one particular song that people wanted to hear over and over again. It was a song by a band named 3 Doors Down and their song, "When You're Gone." It basically focused on the military and how families coped with probably not seeing their loved ones ever again. But with uncertainty, songs can also bring hope and a sense of peace that each and every soldier will return safe and sound.

In any case, songs also have that innate ability to remind a person of their first kiss and where it happened? It can also have that ability to breathe new life into a person that may be down in the dumps. For the melody or beat can make a person come back from the dead so to speak. It's those certain songs that make a person's toes a tappin' and his or her booty a shakin'. The daily grind can get us all but once the radio is turned on or a cd is put in, a person's stress level can lower considerably.

Ray Charles' ability to bring a person into his world through song was the greatest gift he gave to his fans. He is and will always be considered a class act and can never be duplicated. He was a true performer who sang from the heart and was able to capture the meaning of the song. If a song is able to grab the audience and hold that person's attention then the artist has done his or her job. Though a person can't actually eat it, one can consider the songs that he or she listens to chicken soup for the soul.

Come In

Each of our lives are somewhat compared to a door that opens and closes when we meet new people. We often tend to be cautious and look through the proverbial keyhole and decide if we want to open the door or not. Every person has trust issues when meeting new people, for we don't know if the people we meet have the best intentions. It's that way with relationships as well, for our hearts can be opened as well as closed permanently and never be opened again. Inevitably, it's a matter of opening the door to new experiences that will bring either joy or sorrow.

Sometimes a person can be afraid to open the door because past experiences have taught us to keep our guard up, so to speak. The wall that comes down from time to time will always be put back up whenever the door to a potential relationship is opened. It's always a risky thing when the door to one's own heart is involved. We risk sharing ourselves to a total stranger that may or may not last in the long run. But that's what life is all about, each door that we open can bring us to new places and new opportunities.

Other times, the door to one's own heart can be closed completely due to constant heartbreak or personal tragedy. Though the opportunities present themselves to find happiness, that person chooses to live a life of solace and wonder. Every person at one time or another has felt that loss which can never be replaced. It's just a matter of re-opening the door that hasn't been opened in awhile. For it can take a very special person to bring them back to the light so to speak, a person that is willing to be there without even asking.

One can lose a part of himself and never be the same person he or she was. In some cases, a smile can be lost which may or may not be found again. It's like standing in a hallway full of doors and no matter where you go, you end up in the same place. It's also like walking through a maze, each turn ends up leading to a dead end. For one has to back track, back to the beginning and start over. It can be frustrating but one cannot give up hope, for that one door will hopefully bring back that smile that once was lost.

Everybody will have or has had a knock at their door and it's a knock that feels right to that person. Though, there have been many times when one opens the door and nobody is standing there. It can sometimes give someone a sense of false hope. BUT every person has an idea of who will be standing on the other side but can't quite figure out who that person is. In a way, he or she has been standing at the doorway knocking waiting for you to open it. In the end, do you know who will be standing at your doorway and will you ask them to come in?

Magic

Each person has that innate sense of curiosity when meeting somebody for the first time. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat but this sort of curiosity could be worth dying for so to speak. It's that curiosity or feeling that a person can't shake. No matter what you do, one can't seem to get that person out of his or head. Every person has had that feeling before, but somehow it feels different. One can only try to shake it off but the feeling can be overwhelming at times. But the question is if that sense of curiosity will lead you down the wrong road into disappointment.

We have all been there, for the expectations we have can be cut down to size in a manner of speaking. For our egos can be bruised and the embarrassment one faces can sometimes leave an impression on him or her. As it has been before, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. It's that never say die attitude that keeps on riding that bucking bronco so to speak. In other words we simply have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, get back on that horse and strap ourselves in for another bumpy ride.

It can take a vibe, feeling, or simply a look to get one's own curiosity into gear so to speak. That overwhelming urge to find out who that person is and figure out what makes him or her tick. It can be somewhat of a mission, a mission impossible if I could put it another way. If compared to, it would be like being in high school or Jr. High all over again. Trying to figure out who likes who and using gossip and word of mouth, which can sometimes be unreliable. It can be a daunting task to figure out what's true and not true, but that's what matters of the heart is all about.

As I said before, everybody will or has received a knock at their door that he or she will know it's the right one. It's the curiosity inside all of us, in which we imagine the perfect man or woman who will be standing there waiting to be asked in. Sometimes, we may be surprised who is standing there waiting on the other side. Truthfully though, there is no such thing as that perfect person, but one can disagree. In one's own mind that person he or she has been searching for is absolutely perfect, faults and all.

One simply has to be himself or herself, being anybody else just complicates things. Nobody wants a potential relationship based on false pretenses and fake personas. Each one of us is attracted to something specific about a person, whether it be their looks, smile, or sense of humor. There is nothing like when two people "meet" for the first time out of curiosity and a spark can be lit between the two. Every person will have or has had that feeling, a feeling that can be only described with one word...magic.

My Legacy

In the latter days of a person's life, one tends to look back at the accomplishments he or she has done. It's like looking back at a timeline of events, for each of us has somehow and in some way made an impact in someone's life. Whether it be good or whether it be bad, it is an impact nonetheless. One may not consciously know the impact that one is making on others, for it's an impact that will leave an impressionable mark for years to come. It's the things that may or may not seem relevant that determines the legacy a person leaves behind.

People spend much of their lives trying to make a name for themselves and try to build up his or her ego in the process. Every person, whether they want to admit it or not, has an ego and sometimes our egos can get too big for our own good. One has to have an ego, for it's that ego that brings each of us confidence to take life head on. If one didn't have an ego, every person would be the same and that would be just too boring. Sometimes there has to be a limit, if one goes overboard so to speak, then one's own reputation, name, and legacy can be tarnished.

Throughout history there have been many names that have left behind a legacy, a legacy some may have tarnished their reputations and their name. Richard Nixon left behind a legacy in which he was known for Watergate and resigning as President of the United States. O.J. Simpson's legacy will not focus on his great football career, but rather the double murders that he was found not guilty for, a sentence that I highly disagreed with. President Clinton's legacy will be remembered for only one thing and that is the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

It's the legacy that one leaves behind that has some people questioning the person's ethics and moral standing. Each of us have our own standards of ethics that determine what we stand for and stand against. We have our own individuality that people tend to either hate, like, love, or tolerate. It's that individuality and uniqueness that people will or will not remember years from now when that person passes on into the afterlife. I ask you this, Pete Rose's legacy will be remembered for gambling on baseball. Even though he confessed, should he be inducted into the hall of fame?

Several people such as Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Ray Charles, and just recently Marlon Brando left a legacy that was either inspiring and/or influential. Ronald Reagen left a legacy that made any person proud to call themselves an American. Bob Hope left a legacy of smiles and laughter to so many people. Ray Charles brought music to the world that left us waiting for more. Marlon Brando left a legacy that was influential to many aspiring actors to this day. In the end, when it is all said and done, what legacy will you leave behind?