Sometimes life gives you lemons

Recently I have been undergoing some changes.  These changes are not physical, but more spiritual and emotional.  I find that living in Paris has changed me- for the better.  The past 5 months have forever changed who I am as a person and soul.  One of my favorite sayings since before I moved to France has always been, "C'est la vie".  Translating to "That is life".  What I enjoy about this saying is how sometimes you cannot change or force outcomes the way you want them to.  The universe is so much more powerful than we are as humans that things do in fact happen for a reason.

The French are known for being philosophical, not necessarily spiritual, so I wonder, could the French laissez-faire attitude be considered spiritual thinking?  Perhaps to a certain extent.  What I enjoy about the French, as difficult as they can sometimes be with their bureaucratic rules, is that they live life to enjoy it.  They have plenty of time off and on Sundays it is hard to find anything open (save for the tourist areas where the rules don't apply).  I live in a residential neighborhood in the 8th, and one of the things I love most about Sundays is going downstairs and taking a stroll to nearby Parc Monceau.  It is noon and the streets are as quiet as they are at 4am.  At the park however it is bustling with children laughing, people strolling, reading books, lovers kissing on benches or under a tree.  Yes, it can be cumbersome to get your bank account open and tiring to have to constantly call and find out where your ATM card is.  But at the end of the day, you have to love the fact that here you can feel good about not wanting to work 12 hour days and only live to make lots of money.

Maybe that is why I have fit in so well here because even with the delays I have experienced and interesting personalities (the one waiter who told me I could not have a clean plate to dip my bread in olive oil, I know, I too laughed at this!), I just tell myself, "eh, c'est la vie. lo que sea".  I think of all the holidays they are given, those long weekends and vacations.  Ohh, it is for me. lol.  I have been told before that I have an unusually highly positive way of looking at things.  For me it just is.  That being said, I would like to ask you, as my faithful reader, to consider looking at situations and circumstances that don't go your way in a different light.  Do your best to send thoughts of love, understanding and forgiveness always, and truly feel these things, and you will most likely see how things start turning out different for you.  Maybe next time someone bumps into you in the metro station and they don't apologize, give them the benefit of the doubt, did you stop and think that maybe they thought you bumped into him?  Feelings and emotions are contagious, so you should start feeling what you want to receive.

Life gives you lemons.  It's up to you to squeeze the juice out and give it some sugar and then share that juice with friends, lovers and strangers!  : )