Happy Sunday!

I recently started reading a book titled Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo. Each woman tells their perspective in alternating chapters, about deciding in their 40s that instead of getting married or living alone, they would buy a home and live together. I’m not far enough in to give any type of review, but the book appealed to me for a couple reasons. One, although times and views are changing, there are people who would consider this type of arrangement unconventional, or even “strange.” And two, it’s a situation that I have discussed, and am planning to do with one of my friends in a couple years. Something I hadn’t even considered even just a few years ago.

I bring it up today because it made me think of all the things we do because we think we’re “supposed” to. Things that society tells us we should achieve in order to live a good life. Get married, have kids, have a certain career path, own a home, go to college, have certain accomplishments by a particular age, and many others. I can attest to this in that I got married in my late 20s because I allowed society to convince me that time was running out and I better hurry up. It didn’t last long and let’s just say, lesson learned.

I’m happy to see that views and opinions are changing and evolving in some respects around what a good life look likes. I think that the challenging economic and political times are heavily contributing to those views as well. And it’s definitely something worth taking a little time to think about. What does a good life look like to you these days?

Think back to what you wanted when you were younger. Does life now look close to what you imagined it would be? Or has life thrown you enough curveballs to show you that there are other ways to live. How do your values play into the good life? Family, actual and chosen. How you make a living. How you choose to spend your time, take care of yourself and others. There are so many blocks that build our worlds and our lives. Are we doing what we truly want to do, or what we think we’re “supposed” to do?

We can’t all start over from the beginning and make the choices we wish we had the first time around. But we do have the opportunity to make new choices now. We hear people say all the time, “you’ve only got one life to live,” so if you find you’re doing more of what you’re “supposed” to do instead of what you want to do, then maybe it’s time to embrace life in a different way. I’m not suggesting you blow up your life and start over, but maybe just light a little fire under it.

Have a great day and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Positively yours,

Pebbles 💜

🛹 These middle school kids give a 5-year-old boy a very special birthday at the skatepark.

🏥 Nurse Carmen gets a beautiful and emotional retirement send-off after 49 years of service!

🍅 Family thaws and eats the last piece of lasagna their late mom made. Everyone got a bite…even the baby! 😭

🍯 Winnie the Pooh turns 100! Watch and hear Jim Cummings (the voice of Pooh and Tigger) and his special message.