Home is a place that is safe and for the most part, peaceful. For our family, it is our haven that is filled with contentment so you can escape a noisy, chaotic world. For me, this is where I find ways to rest in between the hustle times so I can become restored to face whatever comes next. Home can be a place, but really it is wherever you have that feeling of belonging; where you add more chairs and scoot over for those just arrived. Usually the kitchen table is our gathering place where we listen, encourage, and commiserate. At the table every story is worth the tale and we share mistakes, celebrate success, shed tears, and howl with laughter. We listen to and learn from each other. This is the one place where you will always be surrounded by those who know you and love you anyway.
Family is one of life’s greatest blessings especially during hard times. Pulling together, knowing you can count on family for love and support makes the good times even sweeter. We can argue and disagree, but you know who will show up when challenges arise. Friends, folks who feel like family, can be counted on through thick and thin. Friends know the real you and love you just the same.These people are the ones you appreciate more and more with age. Together, the journey called “Life” not only includes family and friends, but all those you have known, the places you have been, and the experience and memories you collected along the way.
Encouraging and showing kindness to those around us makes us better and stronger. Having the courage to venture out of our comfort zone means putting yourself out there to overcome fears and anxiety, of trying new things, of pursuing new endeavors. After all, nothing grows in your comfort zone. Change is scary, messy, sometimes ugly, but always necessary. A life well lived is about failure along the way; how else can you measure the degree of your success? Success is often the result of hard work seasoned with life experiences. Achieving goals you set for yourself allows you to serve as an example for others. Having high expectations for those around you prods them to do the same. A strong work ethic is a result of good character, and I believe character is what you do when no one else is looking. You cannot fake being a good person.
When it is all said and done, home is essential. When the world beats on me for a while, I know a place that will shelter me for a little while. Home is where I rediscover the stuff from which I was made. It is said that home is where the heart is.
So, regardless where I roam, whether I encounter people great or small, I can always tuck away a little bit of home wherever my heroic pursuits take me. When it is all said and done, I intend to have had a lived a life well lived.
Stay safe out there and look out for each other.
— Pam