Soul Searching.

We all set out to try to find our path. Figure out our destiny. Fulfill our dreams. For some, that path is clear and easy to follow... but for others, that path consists of twists and turns and detours. We all start out with a clean slate... a chance to go anywhere. Along the way, the decisions and choices we make alter and affect where our lives will end up. All it takes is a single second, the wrong words, or an accident to change life as we know it. And then... we spend the rest of our lives wondering "what if". What if I had made a different choice that day? What if I never met that person? What if...

I believe that it doesn't matter how your life ends up or where it has taken you, as every place is a new lesson and makes you the person you are today. If you are lucky enough to know love in your life... to be in love... than you have lived. I have loved once in my life. Don't get me wrong, I thought I had loved many times before... but this one time changed my life. When you truly love someone, that love will never go away. No matter where the two of you end up, no matter the harsh words or actions... no matter if they love someone else. A hole will remain in your heart where that person once was.

In my case, an accident changed my path and life as I knew it. Two years ago, two little pink lines turned my world upside down and I watched everything come crashing down around me. I was left questioning how a person so tiny could be behind such huge life-changing chaos. In what most people consider to be the happiest time of their lives, I was struggling and hurting in a way that I never knew was humanly possible. I loved with every ounce of my soul and body. I felt complete. And just like that, with two little pink lines, everything inside me was broken.

That was two years ago... sometimes it takes two years to sweep up all the pieces and meticulously piece everything back together. Like a broken glass, it will never be completely fixed, there will always be tiny cracks... but those cracks soon become just a reminder of where you were and the strength it took to get to where you are now. That little life that turned my world upside down now carries a piece of the person that I loved with every ounce of my soul and body. That little life now completes me and helped heal me in ways I never knew possible. That little life has taught me kindness and patience, and how to slow down and remind myself of the important things in life.

Life doesn't care if your rich or poor. In love or all alone. Happy or sad. Life goes on... whether you want it to or not. Are there things we all wish we could have done differently or things that we wish could've have happened differently? Of course. We all have parts of our lives like that... I wish I never had to choose one or the other... I wish I could have had both. But that wasn't an option.... and life continued on even when I wasn't ready for it to.

Two years ago, I learned exactly how strong I am. What I can endure. And that I can survive. She may have gotten the diamond... but I got the world - and that little piece of my world is the glue that holds it all together.