Hope makes all the difference in the world.

I went and saw Harry Potter this afternoon, and while it was a little sad, just because it meant it was all over, I didn't cry. When I saw the first part of the Deathly Hallows I was about 3 tears short of a full on theatrical meltdown... as in a melt down that happens in a theatre. But in this one... yes, there is a lot of sad... but I kinda knew what was going to happen at the end, and it wasn't a funeral. So there was hope. Even in the darkest hour there was hope. Hope makes all the difference in the world.

Read an article today that I really liked. That I liked so much that I posted it on Facebook... that I liked so much that I'm posting it here, too. It's called, "There's No Such Thing as 'The One'" and while I wasn't too sure about it with a title like that I read it and I completely agree. Basically the gist of it is that people choose their "one."  When it all comes down to it there are many people that you *could* have something with in the world, but what really makes the difference is your conscious decision. What makes the difference is you and your partner saying (and meaning) "I choose and commit to you, even when things get hard." And you can't really know what you are promising in the moment you say it, but it's the sticking to your promise every morning that makes this person the right one for you. You might be committing to the perfect life with 2.5 kids, you might be committing to seeing them through Alzheimer's, you might be committing to walking with them through cancer... you don't know when you take that vow... but you choose and you remain steadfast until death do you part. Is there an element of fate/destiny/divine providence? Yes, I think so... you did have to meet this person somehow... and I maintain that God knows who we are going to choose and so he slips in a few character building experiences and personality traits to help us deal. But the Disney perfect fairytale doesn't just happen. You work at it and you hit bumps and you deal with it and you commit to choosing to love this person even when you don't really feel like it, and then someday you look back and notice that you've been living happily ever after... it's just a heck of a lot messier than it looked like when the credits were rolling on Cinderella... At least Aladdin gets it a little right..  (see 3:40)

They just don't show you that Aladdin and Jasmine still have to choose each other after they ride that carpet into the sunset.

Sides' she's right. It's far more romantic to think that someone chose me, flaws and all, to love than to think that they are just with me cause I'm their "one" and there isn't a darn thing they can do about it. Choice is much more swoon-worthy than fate or destiny.

Sides... if there is no such thing as "the one," then I get to have hope for the future... and as I've already mentioned, hope makes all the difference in the world.

Oh hello, soapbox. Didn't mean to start standing on you... terribly sorry, I do hope you understand.