Dalai Lama's 18 Rules of Living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Blessed

It’s been a long week so overall, I’m starting to experience some stress. I feel overwhelmed, but not in a bad way. I’ve been inspired, to say the least. Lately, I’ve been wondering what is important to me and who matters most in my life. Just this past week, I’ve taken into account some of the most meaningful lessons. What it means to be a loyal friend, a good daughter, and the importance to surround myself with the people I love most. I have the most amazing family. They support me in everything I do and it doesn’t hurt that I also have a best friend who is down for me in every way possible. I can truly say, I lead a blessed life.

LOVE

I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage, or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.

anais nin

Today

“I hate you, you ain’t shit but I love you. Don’t nobody else make me mad as you. But when we makin’ up, i’m glad it’s you."

Heroes: John Steinbeck

The greatest American writer of all time.

te amo como se aman ciertas cosa oscuras, secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.
pablo neruda —
i love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

Heroes: Elizabeth Taylor

RIP to an iconic woman - full of glamour, full of life

2/27/1932 - 3/23/2011

When people say, 'She's got everything',

I've got one answer - I haven't had tomorrow.

-Elizabeth Taylor

quote of the day

whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.
john webster

On the pursuit of happiness...

It's been a while since I have sat down and truly decided to write. I’ve been in a dark place these past few weeks and I just can’t help but feel vulnerable. There is a side of me I can’t show you. A side of me I can’t show anyone. I’ve been growing and building and feeding this wall, you see. This wall, inside of me, has been building itself for years. And this wall is almost finally complete. In hopes that the higher I build these walls, no one would be able to get through. Maybe I won’t ever have to feel love again because I never want to feel that pain for a second time. Or perhaps I was just hoping this whole time for something worthy. Someone worthy enough to break down this wall of mine before it could outdo itself. Before it could lead to its own destruction.

When you came along, I wasn’t expecting anything. But you were so good to me and little by little, I got swept up in that and found myself falling for you. I felt myself getting attached and dependent. The feelings were getting too real for me. The wall I had built so carefully and flawlessly was becoming fragile and delicate. Instead of feeling happy, I feel weak. I’m too afraid of feeling this way. From feeling overtaken by sadness, from wanting to make a change in my life, from the realization that all I want is to be happy.

Happiness and love doesn’t live here anymore. It hasn’t for a long time. My wall has been rebuilding itself, stronger than ever, and this baby isn't coming down. It isn't fair to you. And it’s either I suck it up, stick around, and lead you to believe I’m content. Or just walk away. Maybe I’ll never change and I’ll never know what its like to let someone in again. But I’m willing to take that risk. Because I just want to be happy and this isn’t it. You can call me complicated or selfish and even tell me I’ll regret it. But I know I won't. I am numb with guilt, but I have to do it for myself. And there really is no easy way to say goodbye. Except that I’m sorry you wasted your time on someone like me.

lovely

fairytale dreaming (#2)

The classic Disney fairytale, and also my favorite.

a poem for the playgirls of the universe

I like women who haven’t lived with too many men.
I don’t expect virginity but I simply prefer women
who haven’t been rubbed raw by experience.

there is a quality about women who choose
men sparingly;
it appears in their walk
in their eyes
in their laughter and in their
gentle hearts.

women who have had too many men
seem to choose the next one
out of revenge rather than with
feeling.

when you play the field selfishly everything
works against you:
one can’t insist on love or
demand affection.
you’re finally left with whatever
you have been willing to give
which often is:
nothing.

some women are delicate things
some women are delicious and
wondrous.

if you want to piss on the sun
go ahead
but please leave them
alone.

— charles bukowski