FAMILY TREE Friends Are sometimes closer than family which Makes #life difficult In certain areas but when #life is happening You have to decide who you're really closest to. The Roots Enter our souls and Exit

Friday Morning He woke up making it his sworn oath to accept what he wanted most in #life and count it as divine order. As he stepped outside of his front door, he took the $20 stuck in the grass as a sign that he was on the right track. Today had started off well. He glanced down at the freshly manicured lawns while walking, hoping to find more bills. While looking down, he bumped into a stranger going the opposite way. After saying, “excuse me” and adjusting his jacket, he reached into his pocket to palm his new found joy. To his shock and horror, it was gone. He’d been robbed and after quickly turning around to see if he had time to run after the culprit, disappointment settled in as he realized, the thief was nowhere in sight. As he watched a teenager running to catch the bus, all he could think of was how his day had taken a turn for the worst. Just as he was about to sink further into his bad mood, the sprinting teenager tripped and books flew everywhere, along with her purse. Having nothing better to do, he helped her pick up the rest of her books. She thanked him hurriedly, while out of breath and took off again towards the bus pulling up. As he bent down to tie his loosening shoelace, he noticed a makeup bag resting on the sidewalk that he hadn’t seen before. It had to belong to the rushing girl but she was long gone. Upon opening it, his eyes widened at the crisp $50 bills neatly tucked into the side. Ten 50 dollar bills. He reminded himself that divine order was at play but couldn’t help looking through the bag for the girls identification. As his hand touched the infernal plastic, he knew it would also list her name and address. The ethical dilemma before him was too much considering he had already assigned divinity to his findings for the entire day. He decided to deposit the $500 and make the final decision about whether or not to keep it, by the end of the day. After leaving the bank he walked to a nearby cafe to grab a bite to eat. His appointment wasn’t for another couple of hours so he spent his time thinking about doing the right thing. As he grabbed a seat outside, a flustered looking woman sat down at the same table. Stranger things had happened today so he made no fuss. The troubled lady looked in his direction, asking if he could watch her beach bag while she ran to the restroom. He obliged. Allowing his conscience to get the better of him, it was in that moment that he decided he would contact the teenager in an effort to return her money. As he was getting up to leave, he looked around for the woman that it belonged to but she was nowhere to be seen. A good amount of time had passed since she left so he picked up the bag and went inside to knock on the bathroom door. When a man answered, he excused himself to look around the rest of the cafe. Still, no worrisome looking lady in sight. He went back to the restroom to look in the bag for her identification and found nothing except for a medium size clutch. What are the odds that money and who she was would be inside? Standing there in amazement of the $2,000 in 20 dollar bills, guilt free, he had to laugh at how the universe works. Today turned out to be a good day.

Fidelity & Compromise There are two things that anyone seeking to be married should be familiar with long before saying "I do". Fidelity and compromise. When I say familiar, I don't mean just knowing the definition of the words. I mean it in the sense of practicing both. Several people talk to me about their relationship issues/woes and 9 times out of 10, their "problems" can be traced back to one of these issues. Some people feel that until they say "I do", their loyalty shouldn't be called into question because they're single. The minute they stand before an ordained minister, family, and friends, the promise of staying with this one person until death separates them, immediately comes into focus. No more sexual relationships aside from this person they're lovingly gazing at. All because two words can break their habitual behavior they've repeatedly had since their first/second relationship. If this worked, the divorce rate would drop exponentially. Others think that by not holding fast to their list of requirements in a mate, they're settling. Being the marrying type, they've always had some form of a list, maybe even dating back to childhood. Man or woman, written list or mentally embedded, doesn't matter. This list has become more important than loving and growing with someone. So much so that they grow depressed and full of anxiety if they haven't found this ideal by the time they enter their 30s. Plenty of people will enter their lives and exit it because out of the 20 things they want, some only had 18 or 19. No room for compromise. In marriage this often leads to divorce under the terms of irreconcilable differences. If you've ever seen War of The Roses, you get a perfect view of what no compromise from either party can look like. Exaggerated for theatrical purposes but nevertheless still making the point that if you have no room for compromise before marriage, it's highly unlikely you'll make room for it later.

Writers Writing “Writers tend to work early in the morning, or late at night, when brains are naturally able to focus deeply on one thought. In the middle of the day, distractions are unavoidable. I wonder if anything worthwhile has ever been written in the afternoon.” ~Scott Adams

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein