We`re determined to ride EVERY roller coaster this summer but there may be one or two the twins need to wait until next year to be tall enough for. In the meantime, we`ll be pushing the limits of our season pass! ...

I`ve learned a lot about myself AND people in general over the past couple years and, of all the lessons I`ve learned, the most surprising is that I no longer consider people who 1) admit their mistakes and 2) apologize weak but, on the contrary, I now consider them incredibly strong.⁠
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A coward is someone who runs from their mistakes, cutting off the people with whom they made the mistake and/or pretending the mistake never happened to themselves and/or others.⁠
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Regardless of how long ago the mistake was made, I would consider someone incredibly, incredibly, brave if they returned and apologized. It takes incredible strength to own that you`re not perfect and that you hurt someone. It takes incredible strength to stop deflecting onto others and to own the hurt you caused. It takes incredible strength to say "I was wrong."⁠
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You know who else is strong?⁠
The person who chose not to be a coward suffering in silence and instead said, "This hurt me. Please stop. I want to talk this out." ⁠
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The person who chooses to walk away from someone who repeatedly hurts them but will not take responsibility for their actions is incredibly strong. ⁠
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And the victim is even stronger when they choose not to live in hate but to forgive, regardless of whether they ever receive an apology.⁠
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I don`t have room in my life for cowards. I don`t have room in my life for people who won`t admit they, too, have made mistakes. I am FAR from perfect but I will own every mistake and harsh word and apologize for them, and I expect EVERYONE in my life (to be able) to do the same. ...

As a girl I got terrible, terrible leg cramps. I didn`t realize at the time, but the cramps were caused by me growing taller, quickly. The leg cramps allowed me to FEEL, albeit painfully, my growth.⁠
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Decades later, I realize heartache allows me to feel growth, too, especially when I am the one who ends a relationship.⁠
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I saw a post this week which read, and I apologize for the language, "The fucked up part is that I get hurt whether I choose to leave or choose to stay." I felt this in my gut when I read it, as I have lived this too many times. I have loved, deeply, people who hurt me, but I stayed because I prayed something would change. I stayed because I hoped they would changed. I stayed because I prayed they loved me as I did them and they would correct the actions which hurt me and apologize.⁠
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There comes a point, however, when growth means we see, recognize and accept that sometimes loving and respecting OURSELVES means we need to say goodbye to those we love.⁠
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There comes a point, however, when growth means bravely saying goodbye to what we know (aka mistreatment and/or abuse) to walk into the unknown.⁠
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There comes a point, however, when growth means acknowledging our gut feelings even when those feelings make us nauseous and heartbroken.⁠
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Growth isn`t always going to be comfortable. We can pray, however, that the rewards on the other side of the pain outweigh the pain initially felt. ...