Life is funny.
You meet people,
Who you think without a doubt,
Will always be in your life.
You fall in love,
With the completely wrong person,
Convincing yourself,
They are your soul mate,
Even though,
They are only your first kiss.
Time passes,
And you realize,
The more you get to know,
These total strangers,
The more you know,
They aren’t going to be,
In your life forever.
By the time a year is up,
The love of your life,
Has replaced you with someone newer,
All of the friends,
You swore were family,
Have all gone their separate ways,
Never to be heard from again.
But new friendships have formed,
And you learn that falling in love,
Isn’t just about,
A cute boy with a crooked smile and a guitar,
But about being able,
To trust both yourself and the other person completely,
And while it was a painful lesson to learn,
You know now how to be cautious,
And not throw yourself blindly into bed,
With the first boy to call you pretty.
Life will break your heart,
And leave you with crippling loneliness,
But when the pain fades,
And you find new friends,
And slowly begin to put yourself out there again,
Life will also
Show you true friendships,
With friends who will let you get stuck on the same boy,
Over and over,
And cry on their shoulders without judgment,
Letting you know,
That you are worth far more,
Than a messy hand job and sloppy kisses.
You learn,
That beauty and happiness,
Are all around you,
Whether in a midnight trip to the beach,
In the freezing cold,
With the people who have become your family,
Or in sharing Valentine’s Day,
Not with a fickle lover,
But with your sister,
Where you both get free dinners,
Because the waiter thinks you’re cute.
Sometimes,
It’s in a sunset trail ride,
On a horse that is your best friend,
And the quiet accomplishment,
Of finishing your second novel,
After four long years of slaving.
So while life can be a bitch,
Harsh and unfair,
Making you want to throw in the towel,
More often than not,
It will show you
That if you can make it through the hard times,
You will find something,
That makes it entirely worth living.
Rachelle Manning 