If perchance the day comes when enough folks read my rants and want to know more about why on earth I decided to start writing them, here's the post they'll scroll to for the gist.
I've lived what I estimate is half the life I can be expected to live by now, at least duration-wise, and have accumulated a fair amount of knowledge along the way. Why do I feel I have learned more than most folks by this time, you may ask? Ah, yes. Simple answer is that I have fucked up waaaaay more than your average bear. Everything from leaving college with an amazing GPA simply because I could make actual money (hey, it was the 90s) to becoming addicted to incredibly illicit and damaging drugs to marrying the absolutely wrong person to losing the absolutely right friends to being homeless with $27 to my name. I've fucked it all up at one time or another.
On the other hand, I learned so incredibly much from these experiences that I wouldn't have learned being the small-town sheltered girl I once was. Epic failures in relationships taught me how to love both myself and another person and I am 100% confidant that had I met my current partner fifteen years ago, I would have still been the emotional train wreck that I was and we never would have had the relationship I cherish with him now. I failed miserably at being financially responsible and was flat broke more times than I can count. Even when I got to the point I was making great income, I was still living paycheck to paycheck and living with the stress of knowing I'd be screwed if a true emergency struck.
Failures in jobs, in friendships, in weight loss and maintenance, in parenting, in health, in cooking, in fashion....the list goes on and on! Each mistake - especially the devastating ones - taught me a lesson that became a permanent part of who I am. I am not done making mistakes and I am not where I consider to be the pinnacle of my life. I am, however, to a place where I'm asked for my advice or personal experiences a lot and have been able to share some sage advice to others' benefit.
Like any other layman's advice you ever get, take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm not an expert in anything else but living my own life, and heaven knows THAT's been a sketchy situation for me all too often! I tend to publish first drafts and leave 'em be. Either read them and find something you can use or you'd like to explore in your own life more or read one and decide I'm a freak and never read them again. Your choice. Don't troll the comments section with pointless political or derogatory diatribe. I honestly don't give a shit if you don't like me or my language or my topics or opinions. This site is my playground and you, dear reader, are a guest...so don't be a dick.
I do appreciate honest thought, curiosity, and discussion so if you do feel compelled to leave a comment, I will be 99% sure to read it and give it some thought. I learn each and every day and don't doubt that by putting myself out there, I will learn from someone who reads this. May all our journeys continue to challenge us and give us more perspective, humanity, and empathy for each other and may we all leave this world with a bit of a smile on our faces, remembering a life well-lived and a legacy all our own.