#Repost @christinelbowen (@get_repost) ・・・ ✨#TodaysPowerThought • The #struggle ends when #gratitude begins. — #NealeDonaldWalsch — #powerful #begrateful #attitudeofgratitude #nomorestruggle #morningmindsetreset #mindsetmatters #notablequotable #mindfulness #consciousness #inspiration #awareness

The skeletons in my closet all want to dance with you.

Unknown

Nothing is black and white. Everything is always good and bad at once -- just make sure it's more good than bad before you make it a habit.

- janplan

This story begins like all good stories do -- right in the middle of so many others. I don't know how far to go back. I had decided to travel in Colombia because of a lack of other options. I didn't really have a plan; I would go down there and figure it out. That almost happened and then I met a guy. Not a guy like all the other boys I knew, this one was different. He was unassuming and calm, he didn't drink too much or speak harshly to others. He didn't judge me when I did all the things he didn't. So I went to Colombia. I traveled around there and worked on my Spanish. I met and stayed with locals. I ate splendid food. I began to understand what it meant to be homesick. I missed my boy. So I came home. I left my travel partner and my anti-plan and came home. I could have imploded how relieved I was to be home. I hadn't really felt anything like it before. You see, with a wandering and angry father, I had never really stayed too long a place. But I still wanted to travel. I wanted to test this thing out. Me and the boy drove west. We drove west with an anti-plan and camping gear we never used. We would see the Grand Canyon and stick our toes in the Pacific. We would make love in every hotel along the way. And so we did. We drove west and saw the sights. We hit the ocean and turned around. Where to next?

This is where this story begins. Ben and I were in LA, staying with an old friend. We planned to travel back to Athens the way we'd come, maybe hit a couple new cities on the way. But (to be explained in another story another day) we agreed to "swing by" Iowa to visit my little brother and pick up my sister's cat, Olivia, after Olivia Tremor Control, of course. She had been staying here briefly because my sister though her summer would take her traveling and she needed a secure home for Olivia. Once she realized she would remain stationary, she set about getting her cat. We were elected. We stopped in Denver to visit another friend and then we were off. We planned to drive through the night and arrive in Dubuque, Iowa in the early morning.

We stopped in Denver to visit another friend and then we were off. We planned to drive through the night and arrive in Dubuque, Iowa in the early morning. Ben drove all day and almost all night -- we were only just two hours away. We switched drivers and he fell swiftly asleep. I would complete this journey and deliver us safely to out resting place. I clutched both hands to the steering wheel and scanned the dim edges of the interstate for deer. Then I saw him -- Granddaddy Coon himself. I could see the years of survival and fear in his lumber. He ran towards the path of my oncoming missile. But then, no, he turned back around to safety. As I was sighing with relief, the coon changed his direction. He was either confused or suicidal but now he was roadkill. His body shook the car as we plowed over him. Ben woke with a start. I did what I do when I panic -- nothing at all. I assured Ben all was okay -- it was just a coon -- and drove on, soothing him gently back to sleep