If you run with the dogs your gonna get fleas....

We all have struggles in our lives, and there are so many things we encounter that can make us stop believing in the good in people......

After surviving cancer thee times, and now MS, I made a pact with myself. I promised I would never stop believing that there is good in anyone and my divine goal in life was to never loose that belief. I always wondered why I made myself so vulnerable to people, and was always so disappointed when those that I believed in, would, almost always, not be what they presented themselves to be.

At forty years old, you would think that life's lessons would harden me....would make me more suspicious...would make me stop believing that there is good....in everyone.
But, as painful as it may be, I continue to believe. It is that belief that some see as weakness, and many times I've been told to stop being so naive. I will admit, those suggestions have almost always turned out to be true, but still, I choose to ignore those warnings.

Here's what I believe....If I can't know in my heart that people are innately good, then I am destined to live my life wondering if every person I come across has an underlying motive.
That is not a world I want to live in! I want to belive in the fairytale, I want to meet people and give them the benefit of the doubt, but most importantly, I want to spend the rest of my days knowing that there is good in the world and that God has given us a choice to be good or bad.

So I get hurt, I get disappointed, I get let down......and I could easily become that untrusting, negative person that the world can create in all of us. But I choose not to! I choose, even at my own sacrifice, to live in the positive.

When it comes down to it, what else do we really have? I don't want to live in a world distrusting everyone I meet. I don't want to live in a world where those who choose to be unethical or dishonest can control my view of the world.

So, do I have a thousand reasons to be a bitter negative person? Absolutely! But the big secret is....I have a choice, and I choose life, happiness, honesty, love, spirituality, and the simple idea that people are good. And when I get hurt, I will not apologize for being nieve, I will feel the hurt and I will move on. I will never give up on looking at life with a glass half full, and if you happen to cross paths with me.....I will believe you are a good person, because in the end, all we really have is our word.

So life happens, we all get hurt, the easy way is to bitterness.....the hard way is to stay positive and believe that you get out of life what you give.

Cut to me: I'm smiling, and remembering all those rare people that touched me, that motivated me, and most of all reminded me.....never give up, there's good in everyone.