Updating #100books

1. Dan Brown's Inferno
2. Ally Condie's Matched
3. Ally Condie's Crossed
4. Ally Condie's Reached
5. Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel
6. Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Prince
7. Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess
8. Cassandra Clare's City of Bones 
9. Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes
10. Cassandra Clare's City of Glass
11. Cassandra Clare's City of Fallen Angels
12. Cassandra Clare's City of Lost Souls
13. Nicholas Sparks' The Lucky One
14. Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl
15. Eoin Colfer's The Arctic Incident
16. Eoin Colfer's The Eternity Code
17. Eoin Colfer's The Opal Deception
18. Eoin Colfer's The Lost Colony
19. Eoin Colfer's The Time Paradox
20. Eoin Colfer's The Atlantis Complex

Woohoo, 1/5 of the way. ^_^
 

Worth It

It's such a glorious feeling when you get to experience things you have before and have a completely different reaction this time around. Call it moving on, call it letting go, call it what you will. The important point is that the pain and the urge to defend yourself has been replaced by peace and pity for them. I no longer feel the need to justify, to defend, to feel vulnerable... In general, I have just stopped being affected negatively... Have stopped letting them hurt me. It actually feels weird sometimes that I find myself smiling and thinking of a different thing because of it. Like how my life right now is so much better than how it was before.

I used to convince myself that time heals, time makes people forget, forgive, move on, but what I've come to learn is that time has little to do with it, if any. The first step is to let yourself move on. The rest follows. Pick yourself up, let yourself heal, make yourself forgive, then forget. The additional baggage of the past, the pain, the hurt, the over sensitivity it causes does nothing positive in your life. People, epecially the malicious and perverted ones will always, always, always have something negative to say, accuse, or imply. It's in everyone's nature to look for the dust in other people's eyes to divert attention from the plank in their's.

Choosing to be happy gets you going, moving forward towards a future disconnected from the haters and the bitterness they harbor.

...And sometimes, life gives you someone to share that happiness with. ^_^

The Sweetness That Is You

There are times when the world thinks screwing with you is particularly amusing. During these times, you'd find yourself wanting to pull out your own hair in frustration. Then the wheel turns and you get right back up at that sweet spot when everything is perfect and happy, and you wonder what you ever did to deserve such blessings.

Hey, you. Thanks, with love. ^_^

Blessings

It's one of those days again when you hate almost everything and everyone. Aaaarrrgghhh. It feels like falling into a well that isn't at all wide enough to let you climb back out. Everywhere you turn, it's walls, walls, and more walls. I know life as I have it now isn't really like that, but it sooo feels like it anyway. 

And then God reminds you just how much He loves you with something big. Something miraculous. Something you couldn't have achieved on your own. Something that shows His divine protection on your whole being. An assurance of His everlasting love and faithfulness. So you smile again and pick yourself up.

Ashamed of your rants and grumblings, you start to count your blessings starting with a wonderful boyfriend who has lately been going to church with you on Sundays even when it means not really spending time with you, but actually learning about God. He understands that you are struggling to put God first in your life and is willing to take the back seat to support you with that. Then you realize how despite the imperfections of your family you have a caring father, a very loving albeit nagging mother, a supportive brother even though you don't understand him most of the time, and a brother who takes care of you when nobody else does. 

All is right in the world again.