Half-Full

For those of you who know me, you know I'm a glass half-empty kind of person. I have a contagious negative cell somewhere in my body that multiples and contaminates every part of my being from time to time. It usually resides in my mind, but occasionally it will infect my heart, and that's when I get that deep, overwhelming sadness. People say I'm emotional. Like I've posted here before, I just tend to feel things heavily, whether it's happiness or sadness, I tend to feel the emotion strongly.

Although I wish I was a glass half-full kinda gal, I'm just not. You know those Debbie Downers in your life? Well, I'm Downer Dani. Yet, although I look at my glass with a half-empty eye, I have somehow managed to surround myself with people whose eyes always discern the glass as half-full, and for that, I am very grateful.

This weekend was a good weekend. Partly because I had a good thanksgiving and partly because it was a long, relaxing weekend, but mostly because I have great friends. For those of you who may not know, I moved across the country and left all my friends behind. It has been difficult starting over in a new city, and quite frankly, my Downer Dani attitude doesn't necessarily scream "be my friend." It's hard meeting new people and, from time to time, I get really homesick and miss my friends terribly. But this weekend they felt close to me (in spirit anyway), and I was reminded of what a rare and beautiful gift true friendship is.

I got a beautiful, touching letter from a friend, a couple far away thoughtfully sent text messages, and a few random inside joke texts. Just simple things really, but each one made me smile and made me see that in the friendship department my glass truly is half-full. Friendship is not something that can happen overnight. It is a process with different stages and phases along the way. The friends who reached out to me this weekend are friends for life who have seen me far too many times sulking over my half-empty glass; but they love me regardless.

In Shakespeare's Sonnet 30 he says, "But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, / All loses are restored and sorrows end." My friends are a daily reminder of how great my life is. Honestly, my life is great. And because of the wonderful friends I have, I can look at this day with all it's blessings and clearly see that my glass is not only half-full, but overflowing.