I refuse
To look for love
Where everybody is told
Love will be
Love by everybody
Feels to be
Backwards, shallow, gray
Too screen-y for me
I see love
Dancing the night
Drowning in books
Drinking nature’s cup
Love by me
Is a love made without me
A love minus a swipe
A love that just so happened to be
P.s. You can read my other poems here.
If I think about it
Carefully enough
I can make my heart skip
A beat or two
From replaying times
I was carelessly
With you
A beat or two
Compared to a year or two
Of skipped beats
And skipped stones
And skipped feet
Feels wildly inadequate
Yet fully true
And while thinking of you
Carefully enough
Happens less and less often
There’s a rhythm
My feet and heart once knew
Now my barrier of entry
No skips…
…It’s not you.
P.s. You can read my other poems here.
How tragic
for someone
who would’ve loved
the unfiltered
uncompromised
untainted
version of you
to meet
a version
filtered, compromised, tainted
all because
you were busy
trying to fit in
trying to find courage
trying to be…
someone else.
P.s. You can read my other poems here.
Boundaries are the walls of your cup that allow you to keep precious energy in.
No boundaries, no walls; no walls, no way to keep energy in.
…And the byproduct is energy overflowing everywhere, up and out from the source of your being, and left up for grabs to whoever is willing to take it—yourself included in that fight.
Fighting for access to your own energy is no way to live.
And if, in fact, you feel like you haven’t had much energy for life, it probably isn’t so much an energy problem as it is a boundary problem. More caffeine, for example, only adds to the overflowing-up-for-grabs-energy that enters the fighting arena.
Construct walls around your energy.
Build up the outer perimeter of your cup.
And stop leaving your life source up for grabs.
Serve yourself a fine cup of that tasty, juicy life energy first and foremost and deliberately choose who you’d like to serve the rest to, second.
This is the way.
The opposite only gives life to the ones who usually deserve it the least—the takers, the manipulators, the narcissists, etc.
Starve them of your life energy and let the source of their power slowly die.
P.s. I also published: The Ultimate Boundary Builder List – 101 Quotes On Boundaries To Take You From Zero to Boundary Hero
Today, I found a gift I never gave.
It was two books wrapped with an enclosed card.
What I wrote was something sentimental and specific to the person and what they were going through at a specific time. An offering of some ideas that they might hold on to to help them carry on. And the books, of course, were thematically related to this notion.
The reason I never gave the gifts was because they slid into an out of sight position in my car and after a while, I just forgot about them completely. Once I rediscovered them, it was way past the occasion for the gift and so I just left them.
And it makes me wonder… had I gotten those gifts to that person, how might it’ve changed them? Would the words have landed? Would the books have made an impact?
Or would it have been a notion that was temporarily appreciated and then forgotten about? Would the words have fallen flat? Would the books have just been stored on their shelves and left unread?
Which makes me think… is it possible to give a gift and not have it make some type of impact on the other person? Even if the words didn’t strike a chord… even if the books weren’t read… is it possible to offer something so thoughtful and human without changing the other even one tenth of a degree in a better direction?
To which I’d say… after thinking about it… I don’t think so.
P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.
I’m writing an article for MoveMe Quotes on boundaries that I plan on publishing this weekend.
One of my favorite lines that I’ve read so far is: “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”
A lot of people feel bad about boundaries… They have a hard time saying “no…” They don’t want to let others down or make them upset or disappointed.
But the truth of the matter is that boundaries are an expression of love—not hate.
And when you draw a boundary that allows you to better prioritize yourself—and your own time/energy/attention—it’s an expression of self-love.
…Because it’s precisely how you fill yourself up so you can better give love.
And anyone who has a problem with that (except maybe children/dependents who require some additional strategizing)… is precisely the type of person who you need to draw a boundary to.
…You’re not letting anyone down.
…There’s nothing to feel bad about.
…You’re not a disappointment.
You’re creating the line that allows you to BETTER LOVE them AND you simultaneously.
Really soak this one in… Because if you keep allowing them to cross your boundaries and suck the life from you… soon there won’t be any life—or love—left for you to give.
P.s. You can read my complete collection of 150+ quotes on boundaries that I’ll be making the article from here.
Want to learn how to have better conversations? Ask better questions.
Want to learn how to become more interesting? Become more interested.
Want to learn how to more smoothly break the ice? Subtract as much hesitation as you can and simply shoot your first question.
Curiosity is the key to great conversation.
And if you’re worried about awkward silences, here’s a pro-tip I learned from a friend: lean into the silence and let it linger. Think carefully about what’s been said and construct your next question without haste. You might be surprised how often people will reflexively fill that void first and offer additional thoughts for your curiosity to chew on.
Finally, when engaging in casual conversation, a bit short is always better than a bit long.
…Because a bit short implies there were some curiosities that weren’t fully explored—which is an excellent opener for your next interaction.