A lime wedge on a cutting board. A picture says a thousand words. I am going to start from the ground up. If you don’t believe me, start counting:

Parts of the board are in the shadows. It’s the unknown. A dark abyss of who knows what. Other parts of the board are in the light. There is an area you can see but it’s out of focus. Unsure of what is ahead. Then you have the area that’s in focus. This area in your personal space. The areas that are in focus represent something you can control. The areas that are out of focus are the areas you do not understand. The darkness is unpredictable. The darkness can be the home of many things that haven’t stepped into the light. Multiple knives have damaged the smooth surface of the cutting board. No slice in the same direction. This represents what life can do to your body. You fall and rise after making mistakes. As a human, you live and learn. Heartbreak does not negate the fact that you’re alive - able to breath, to think, to enjoy, and to chase what you love. Sometimes the journey is filled with sorrow but there is still a lot of beauty ahead of you. We must continue to put one foot in front of the other even when we hurt, for we will never know what is waiting on the other side. Smoothing a wooden board with sand paper is just as easy as self care. Rebuild your mind and your mentality. Rejuvenate your perspective to be better. Psychologically damaged people tend too be the strongest because they know they can survive anything. The strong minds tend to suffer without complaining, while the weak complain without suffering. Pain strengthens the mind. Do not play the victim to the circumstances you created. Be persistent in your journey despite the difficulty of the road you travel. Just remember that karma is only a bitch if you are.

We define ourselves by the best thing that is in us, not the worst thing that has been done to us. People who are sensitive tend to be the most genuine and honest. Nothing is kept secret with these type of people. They will pour their hearts out to you if they trust your kindness. The lime shines bright in the darkness. You see all the little vein like strands in the lime. Showing all of its imperfections. Wedges within the wedge representing all of the emotions that lay within. Strategically placed, the lime represents a smile. Standing out of the darkness; overcoming adversity. However the lime has a secret. The pain from the hidden area found its way into the light and compromised its mentality. True strength is smiling when you want to cry, and laughing to hide the pain. Regardless of what is happening in life, the lime will stand tall. Of course, life tends to fight back from time to time. Sometimes we only hear and see what we want to. With a small squeeze of the edges, all of the juice (emotion) will come out of the lime. As if it is being betrayed, it will reject you. Out of no where, there goes your eye with some lime juice that represents reality punching you in the face. You can do everything you can to avoid reality but you can never avoid the consequences of reality. If you ever fall, be sure to get back up and keep fighting. Keep yourself in the limelight of your life. Respect others if they respect you. Continue to respect others even if they disrespect you. Do not allow the actions of others to decrease your good manners because you represent yourself, not others. Sometimes you need to silently step back and look at the bigger picture. Then you’ll know what to do.

What can say one about the light? Does it bring out the good quality of the object in focus or is it positioned to hide what the artist does not want you to see? Could it be both? Regardless of what I see in this picture, your eyes may see something different. We spend an entire lifetime looking for a message to help us understand our existence. As a human, it is your responsibility to interpret life and because that is our message. Life is always changing and it will always get harder. All this does is make you stronger. There is always going to be something that is obstructing your path. It is hard to let go of something you care about or something that is not right for you. In the process of letting go, you will most definitely lose things you do not want to lose but in the end, you will find yourself and what is right for you. The fact of the matter is, unless you let go, and forgive yourself, forgive others, forgive the situation; unless you realize that the situation is over, you can never move forward.

When you wake up every morning, you have two choices: Sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them. Sometimes it feels that life is working against your favor. If you think about it, will always win after death. Unfortunately, that is the way of the world. However, no matter how hard it gets, you must always tell yourself that making it is inevitable. You become stronger because you have to be. You become smarter because you make mistakes. You become happier because of the sadness you encounter. In the end, you become wiser because of what you learned. You don’t always need advice. Sometimes you really need a hand to hold, an ear to listen, and a heart to understand. You have a solid support system. Your support system is there. Use it! In this world, there is always going to be some type of fire under your ass. Whether it is a fire that is going to motivate or a fire that is going to burn, never forget that life goes on. You either chose to move on and risk it all or live in the past… thinking what could have been. Don’t waste time looking back at what was lost! It was lost for a reason! Life is not meant to be traveled backwards. Dori keeps swimming. Dori is smart. Be like Dori.

Let me give you a different perspective. Now read the quote again before you continue. However, replace the word ‘you’ with ‘I’ and the word ‘your’ with ‘my’ in every instance.