It's That Simple

“You know, you just make a choice about who you want in your life. It’s really that simple.” That’s what I said to my brothers this morning as we were driving to breakfast.

This weekend, my father, brothers and nephew were here to celebrate our marriage with us. We had a small gathering of close friends and our immediate family. Some friends they knew, some they were meeting for the first time. My family just kept telling us how great our friends and my in-laws are. And my in-laws kept telling me how great our friends and my family are (they all really hit it off, which was very cool - my dad and Bob’s mom were making plans to get together when she's vacationing in Florida).

As I looked around, I realized that yes... our friends and family are pretty great. I’m talking about people who are just so excited for us - and genuinely so. We love these people, and it’s not an accident that they are in our lives. They’re good to us, and each other. They’re funny, smart, kind, supportive, and positive.

I like to think that they choose to have us in their lives because they feel the same way about us. I hope that we always do the same and that they feel that we are good friends to them, as well... that we are supportive, positive forces in their lives. I’ve had some experience with negativity in others, and it’s just not something I tolerate well... and so I’m hyper aware of how important it is to support the ones you love.

I haven’t always been a good friend... but I’ve paid attention to my lessons, and I think I’ve learned from them. That goes for all relationships... pay attention. As I was just saying the other day, “the universe just keeps throwing it at you 'til it sticks”.

This morning, my brothers were telling me how refreshing it was to be around such good, happy people. That’s when I told them how I feel about it. You really do have a choice about who you spend your time with. Wendie wrote this post about toxic people a while back. It’s an interesting read.

Life is a series of decisions... roads you can take, or not. You can CHOOSE to be happy. You can CHOOSE to be successful, whatever that means to you. You can CHOOSE to be lonely, or to have a life full of love. It really is that simple.