Remembering

I am known for posting quotes as my status on Facebook. Sometimes one will capture me and I share it in the hopes it will capture someone else. On Monday, I shared my own inspiration:

Good friends will never expect you to be anyone but yourself. Great friends will help you remember who you are.

This came to me as an epiphany following a discussion I had with a friend. Over the past four months, this dear man has been incredibly supportive and at times will give me a much needed reality check as good friends do.

In the above mentioned discussion, I was lamenting the fact that I would never find a man who was a good fit for me. I worried that I had been alone for too long and that I'd die alone. I added the dramatic visual of the paramedics finding my decrepit body half consumed by my 15 cats and left to rot amongst stacks of unread books.

But that's not how he saw the end of my life.

He saw me spending my life the center of attention flamboyantly wearing loud colors, bright, oversize jewelry and being a complete embarrassment to my children. I added to this visual by saying I'd be bathed in patchouli, bra-less and wearing sequined flip flops. He said he will be proud to know that fun loving Chrissy.

It made me think about who I really am. Not only to myself but to others. For a long time, I was led to believe I wasn't good enough. I'm not thin enough, I'm a lousy housekeeper, I'm demanding and I don't know how to raise my children. If you hear those things often enough, you begin to believe them.

A great friend helps you remember who you are.

I am a spiritual seeker. A woman who believes in kindness and gratitude being the keys to happiness. I love to laugh but mostly I love to make others laugh because I firmly believe laughter affects the positive vibrations of the whole universe. My greatest joy is when I can help someone through a difficult time. I adore anyone over the age of 80! I pick my battles with my children. I don't mind spending the afternoon by myself reading, walking, baking.

I express myself through the colors I wear, the sounds of a great charm bracelet or earthy herbal scents. I love to get my hands in the dirt to raise vegetables and richly scented herbs to create amazing foods. I love to immerse myself in different cultures and learn about our world. I am an audacious, brazen, unabashed, shameless flirt.

I have a rich life and I may never find someone to share it with me. But if I do, he will be someone who will never ask me to be anyone but myself but will only help me to remember who I am every day.