Pinwheels!

So recently I went on a trip to Daytona Beach, FL with my friend Kacie from high school. And of course, you cannot see Daytona without visiting the Daytona International Speedway (well I guess you can...but how often do you go visit race car tracks??)  While I'm not an avid NASCAR fan, or even a fan at all, I was fascinated by the pinwheels outside of the speedway.  At the time I didn't think much of it, all I cared about was finding the State of MN, which, much to my dismay was linked together with Wisconsin.  Now, I have nothing against WI, one of my best friends lives there, but I more or less believed that "every state should have their own pinwheel" lol. that would be a lot of pinwheels.  But as I watching one of my favorite shows yetserday, "Cake Boss,"  I finally found out what these pinwheels were for.

One of the most famous women racecar drivers in the world is Danica Patrick.  Needless to say, I did not know this until yesterday, but as I'm watching her describe to Buddy the kind of cake she wants, across the screen flashes her friend Michael Kalish, standing next to all of these pinwheels.  It turns out, he is the creator of the pinwheels in order to raise awareness for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD). I thought myself "Sweet! I've seen those."  And now...I share it all with you :)  Maybe one day you too will see the pinwheels in your area as they make their way around the states :)

Check out this site for more about Danica Patrick's Drive for COPD.
 

You never know...

I realized something this past weekend; I am amazed at how easy it is to express my true thoughts and feelings over the internet instead of telling the people who are close to me what it is I'm truly going through.  I've been keeping an online blog for eight years on a different site...which I'm sure only a handful of people in the world knew I still kept.  I liked having a "secret place" to sit and vent about life..to tell people what was really going on behind the fake joy that I repeatedly putting across my face. The reality is..technically it's not really all that secret when over 6,000,000,000,000 people have access to your intermost thoughts and you never truly know who's reading...

I ran across a blog yesterday of a friend.  I've been following her blog for quite some time, but hadn't really kept up on it as of late.  When I read her most recent post from a month ago now, I am amazed.  I see her almost every week.  She seems to be her happy, bubbily, upbeat self...but the truth is, she was hurting and I knew nothing about it.  And the truth is...she really didn't want a lot of people to know about it. I guess I can understand that considering I've been doing the same thing for at least four years now thinking that no I knew followed my blog...but my question is why do I do that?

Why is it so easy to express your thoughts to people you don't know? Maybe it's because I'm afraid of what other people may think or I don't think anyone would quite understand.  I don't want people to feel sorry for me or I just can't seem to find the right words. I don't want to weigh other people down with my problems or burden them with more problems than they already have. I don't want to say the wrong thing or say something out of anger.. It's ok I say....I don't need people..I'll just tell God everything that's on my mind...no one else would really get it anyways..I'm fine on my own ...I've used that one a lot in life. Or maybe I've got it all backwards...and all we really want is a fresh perspective from someone completely on the outside. Someone who's not involved and can see the situation a little more clearly than we can and has some good advice.

I used to think I didn't need people...that I'd be fine on my own.. I have God..He's all I need.  While I believe He is all I really need... in retrospect, God put people on this Earth for a reason..we're supposed to be there for one another..to mourn with those who are mourning and to rejoice with those who are glad...as Pastor Brian Gobar once said "We're imperfect people called to love imperfect people"...whether it be through following a random strangers blog or sitting next to your best friend at lunch...idk...I guess God's not limited to the means of communication I think are most effective :)

Oh!.. please don't get me wrong...I love blogs :) I think they are fantastic (otherwise I wouldn't have kept one for over 6 years now)! I love writing and reading them...I love hearing about other people's lives..what crazy adventures they've had, what insights they have to share, even what hardships they're experiencing.  I think writing is a great way to get out your frustration or pain...I'm more or less talking to myself...wondering why I wanted to keep my life a secret for so many years..and yet in reality..all I wanted was for someone to listen...kinda backwards thinking don't you think :)

So thanks for listening to my ramble...hopefully less confusing posts to come haha :)