Just because.….

So many times, we get caught up in our own lives of what, to us, seems most impor­tant. But some­times, just some­times, there’s that moment of  com­plete seren­ity that comes over you.…maybe it’s some­one who just took the time to stop by and say hello, or crossed your path after years gone by, or maybe it’s just sit­ting on your back porch enjoy­ing the night time air. But there’s inevitably some­thing about that moment that brings us back to real­ity. The real­ity, not as we know it to be right now, but that inan­i­mate, unex­plain­able real­ity that shows us why things matter.

Recently, I cov­ered an an extrav­a­gant event in NYC that cel­e­brated a year of accom­plish­ments across the world, where chil­dren all over were granted the wish of a life­time. They were given smiles. Not just smiles (this par­tic­u­lar non-​​profit pro­vides surg­eries for chil­dren with cleft palates or cleft lips), but self-​​esteem, encour­age­ment, and oppor­tu­nity. But even still, with all the glitz and glam­our of a grand event that show­cases all the accom­plish­ments, the celebrity endorse­ments, the mas­sive amounts of money raised through suc­cess­ful businessmen/​business women, I still can’t help but stop and real­ize just how grate­ful I am for the life I have. There’s some­thing to be said for great friends, great fam­ily, and a sup­port sys­tem that give the ulti­mate sacrifice.…their time, their love, their life­long commitment.

What is most impor­tant in life? That’s the $64 mil­lion ques­tion. How often, I pon­der, con­tem­plate and even argue with my own inner heart strug­gling over that very thing. At at the end of my romp and rage, sat­is­fac­tion and dis­con­tent, I real­ize that, ulti­mately, I come back to the same con­clu­sion. Life just seems to be a jour­ney. We live, we love, we move on, we find new expe­ri­ences, and we learn from them. But in the end, it’s those that care about you the most that seem to make the most dif­fer­ence in our lives. Those that invest in us and make us feel like we really are worth­while. There’s no amount of money that can com­pare to the ones that take the time to make us feel.….well, real.

In a world where movies, tv, mag­a­zines, not to men­tion just our sphere of influ­ences make us feel like we have to be some­one or some­thing else, you have to ulti­mately under­stand that it’s peo­ple that make the world go round. And not just peo­ple, but those that know you inside and out. Those that have that uncanny sense when some­things wrong even though they are miles away, or those that believe in you no mat­ter what cir­cum­stances make you feel like there’s noth­ing left ahead. I call them my “angels on earth”.  Put sim­ply, they make me feel like life is worth liv­ing after all. It’s because they see some­thing in you that’s sub­stan­tial and they adamantly and fer­vently want to see you suc­ceed, whether it’s life, love, or career. Ulti­mately, they want to see you happy.…You can’t put it on paper, you can’t cash it in the bank. Sim­ply an amaz­ing, irre­place­able feel­ing that can only be filled by those cer­tain “angels” that show up in life and give you a gift that’s all yours. Care­fully crafted to the per­son you are and given with care, pas­sion, love and wis­dom. Words say some, actions speak vol­umes. And I’m so thank­ful that despite what goes on around me, I have all of these things in my life and the know­ing that every­thing will always turn out alright in the end.

Posted in Random thoughts by Jessica Mansfield